OT: Wacky Wackiness in College Football, Exhibit A: Texas
November 25th, 2010 at 11:55 PM ^
It just shows you how inexperience at critical positions (i.e. quarterback) can be troublesome even to some of the best coaches at premier institutions.
November 25th, 2010 at 11:59 PM ^
Mental errors killed them all year. They have the parts from a talent standpoint, but they make stupid mistakes regularly.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:08 AM ^
Some terrible flimsy tackling.
November 25th, 2010 at 11:59 PM ^
Would someone with more time/access to data please do a diary comparing what was left at Texas vs. Michigan post-Lloyd? I'm very curious how they correlate with their respective worst seasons in ____ years.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:01 AM ^
i think my posting of this thread was a passive-aggressive attempt at asking someone to do that -- although i can't think of any season in recent memory that would jive with Texas 2009-2010...
November 26th, 2010 at 12:28 AM ^
NCAA record for last week's game, starting lineup:
| 1A | Keenan Robinson (WLB) | JR |
| 2B | Blake Gideon (RS) | JR |
| 3A | Curtis Brown (LCB) | SR |
| 4A | Aaron Williams (RCB) | JR |
| 5 | John Chiles (FL) | SR |
| 6A | Christian Scott (LS) | JR |
| 7 | Garrett Gilbert (QB) | SO |
| 8B | Jones (TE) | FR |
| 11 | James Kirkendoll (SE) | SR |
| 18 | Emmanuel Acho (SLB) | JR |
| 31 | Cody Johnson (TB) | JR |
| 32 | Eddie Jones (DE) | SR |
| 42 | Dustin Earnest (MLB) | SR |
| 64 | Kyle Hix (LT) | SR |
| 67 | Mason Walters (RG) | FR |
| 72 | Britt Mitchell (RT) | SR |
| 76 | Trey Hopkins (LG) | FR |
| 78 | David Snow (C) | JR |
| 80 | Alex Okafor (DT) | SO |
| 81 | Sam Acho (DE) | SR |
| 84 | Marquise Goodwin (WR) | SO |
| 91 | Kheeston Randall (DT) | JR |
So for their starting 22, I count:
- Freshmen: 3 (1 recent injury sub for senior)
- Sophomores: 3
- Juniors: 8
- Seniors: 8
So as a group, they have a pretty strong level of experience on both sides of the ball. They look like a normal team, dominated by JRs and SRs, with a handful fo underclassmen.
They don't really have the excuse of a huge loss of experience to use that I can see. They are in much better shape on paper than we were in teh fall of 2008. I don't know them well enough to comment on the talent levels of who was lost and who was to step up this year.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^
Shipley, Cosby, Thomas and Kindle has really hurt and it shows on the field. Losing that much talent and experience in key positions will not result a good record most of the time.
November 26th, 2010 at 8:17 AM ^
Excellent point - senior does not automatically mean leadership...for whatever reason, some kids are not as good of leaders as the ones who left, and this can show on the field...
November 26th, 2010 at 11:33 AM ^
Exhibit B: Michigan Basketball, 2009-2010, Post-Merritt/Lee.
/sad panda
November 26th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
That loss of senior leadership sounds similar to Michigan after the 2007 season when Henne, Hart, Long, etc graduated. Even if Carr (& Mallett for that matter) had stayed, I think 2008 was going to be a tough year and a 5-7 record was certainly possible.
And although it's difficult to imagine now, at the time if a Carr led team had gone 5-7 and missed a bowl then I actually think the fanbase would have been more livid than the 3-8 Rodriguez season (where at least the excuses of new system & walk-on players tempered some of the anger).
November 25th, 2010 at 11:59 PM ^
Looks like the loss of Greg Robinson is finally taking its toll.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:18 AM ^
Laughed really hard when I read this. Hahaha.
November 26th, 2010 at 9:11 AM ^
and the only cure is more stuffed animals!
November 26th, 2010 at 12:03 AM ^
November 26th, 2010 at 12:06 AM ^
I just got back from the Texas-A&M game. It was horrible: pretty much all of Texas' touchdowns were special teams presents (TAMU fumbles the punt return, Texas recovers... sound familiar?). Their play-calling was also horrible. I know enough from reading MGoBlog that you don't throw a bubble screen when there isn't a numbers advantage and the CBs are in press coverage. They couldn't establish a running game and Gilbert consistently overthrows receivers.
Even on last year's near-championship team, they couldn't run the football at all. This year, they can no longer throw thanks to Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley leaviing. It's Michigan 2008 all over again, except with a horrible offensive coordinator.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:22 AM ^
As an Aggie supporter, I was grateful that Texas didn't run Cody Johnson more. He was the only part of the offense that was working consistently and as soon as he would rip off a big run, they'd take him out for the rest of drive.
Also, given the ridiculous talent level, I thought the play of the Texas O-Line was shockingly bad. A&M's D-Line is good (and their pass rush is excellent) but with the number of 4 and 5 stars that end up in Austin they should be much, much better.
November 26th, 2010 at 9:17 AM ^
I don't think enough people are giving the blame to the OL. There's two freshmen starting there at guard, and I think they're a big reason behind the problems. One particular play, Both guards were standing at the line of scrimmage blocking no one. Several times, TAMU would twist (perhaps incorrect nomenclature) their DE's inside over their DTs. The guard and offensive tackle would double team the DT, and the DE would slip in untouched. This repeated error hurried Gilbert into horrendous throws.
But going back to the wider picture, the lack of running game hurt so bad. Texas hasn't been able to the run the ball by a running back in a few seasons. It's been Colt McCoy or bust. I think part of that is the emphasis on shotgun running schemes. They don't have a quarterback to really keep the defenses honest. So they're not allowing the running backs to get good downhill starts.
I loved when the big running back came in. Those back to back runs in the 4th of ~20 and ~40 were just what Texas needed. I couldn't believe they didn't try him more often.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^
You've got it. And it's the same reason Florida sucks too, although Florida's is much more obvious because the center brings attention to the problem every 3 plays.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:11 AM ^
Please keep it classy on the inside. And, again, my usual request: I know a lot of you have a lot you want to get off your chests about the game and the season, and you're tempted to write your own FanPost. Please think long and hard about whether what you want to write couldn't be discussed within this thread, as every new FanPost which goes up bumps another off the front page.This looks like something that would have fit in quite well here after pretty much every loss. Funny how much fans of all schools have in common sometimes. It's also a great illustration that even the perpetual "haves" aren't immune to losing once in awhile.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:13 AM ^
November 26th, 2010 at 12:20 AM ^
November 26th, 2010 at 12:21 AM ^
November 26th, 2010 at 12:23 AM ^
I haven't heard many calling for his head here on campus. A lot of hate seems to be directed toward Greg Davis.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:47 AM ^
I'd say the shine must be off the golden boy Will Muschamp having watched Texas a few times this year; the guy makes GERG look like a defensive genius given the talent differential at present.
November 26th, 2010 at 1:45 AM ^
false. Muschamp has underacheived this year, but any UT fan paying attention to field position and yards per play would take issue with your position. It is very much akin to MICHIGAN SCORES BUT NOT IN THE FIRST HALF GRRRR!!!1!
November 26th, 2010 at 10:31 AM ^
FIRE MACK FRAUD
November 26th, 2010 at 3:02 PM ^
MORE LIKE HACK BROWN, AMIRITE?
November 26th, 2010 at 12:21 AM ^
Among the explanations here, red zone offense was absolutely atrocious this year.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:49 AM ^
My good friend is a texas fan, and he's experiencing something similar to that of what we felt in '08. Just shows you that it can happen to the best of us.
November 26th, 2010 at 9:13 AM ^
how soon can we get to the time when OSU experiences it? Anyone?
November 26th, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^
Last really bad one was 1999 6-6 and tied for 8th in the Big 10. 1987 and 1988 they went 6-4-1 and 4-6-1 respectively. 2001 they went 7-5 and followed it up with a NC in 2002. Could it happen to us if we lose tomorrow?
November 26th, 2010 at 1:26 AM ^
...and trying to come up with an idea of what goes into winning (besides scoring more points than the opponent), as well as how to judge a player's effectiveness.
The one stat that seems to have the most relevance is TO margin. All of the BCS top 16 teams have a positive TO margin. The lowest TO margin for an undefeated or 1-loss team is Auburn at +3. The undefeated and 1-loss teams:
- 10-0 Oregon +11
- 11-0 Auburn +3
- 11-0 TCU +8
- 10-0 Boise St. +6
- 10-1 LSU (only loss at #2 Auburn) +6
- 10-1 Stanford (only loss at #1 Oregon) +9
- 10-1 Wisconsin (only loss at 10-1 MSU) +7
- 10-1 OSU (only loss at #7 Wisconsin) +12
- 10-1 Oklahoma St. (only loss at home vs. #15 Nebraska)
- 10-1 MSU (shellacked at Iowa, doesn't play #8 OSU) +7
- 10-1 Nevada +7
Going into tonight's game, the 'Horns were #116 in TO margin at -10 (-0.909090... per game). They were also T-#107 in TOs lost with 26 (2.363636... per game).
Michigan is T-#101 in TO margin at -7 and T-#98 in TOs lost with 24. The only other AQ conference teams with a negative TO margin and a winning record are:
- 8-3 (now 9-3) Texas A&M at -4
- 7-4 Syracuse at -4
- 7-3 WVU at -3
- 6-4 South Fla. at -3
- 6-5 Kentucky at -3
- 7-4 Penn St. at -2
- 6-5 UNC at -2
- 7-4 Miami Fl. at -2
- 8-3 FSU at -2
November 26th, 2010 at 10:33 AM ^
Causes huge shifts in field position & starting field position avgs, puts an end to drives, leads to defensive scoring....
When you run an offense built on stringing together more scoring drives than the other team (and like ours the preference to score early and often and not worry about it leaving our D on the field longer), turnovers are an incredible bonus towards helping that happen.
November 26th, 2010 at 11:49 AM ^
From this data it is obvious that Michigan has overcome a lot of adversity from TOs. Especially considering how concentrated they have been towards the end of the season, and how damaging, field-position wise, they have been.
Just imagine how much better our offense would be if they could get some turnover parity. And how much better the defense would be without being put in such bad positions on the field (ok, maybe not much, but still...).
November 26th, 2010 at 1:19 PM ^
I actually think the turnover problems have more to do with the D than the O. Obvioualy, that's not true for oddities like the Purdue game, but losing 24 turnovers like our offense has is p[robably about average. If the D could come up with more turnovers, get that margin down to -3 or -4 Michigan might've been able to pull an upset (hey, we still can!).
November 27th, 2010 at 4:46 AM ^
...losing 24 turnovers like our offense has is p[robably about average. If the D could come up with more turnovers...
The numbers don't bear that out.
T-#98 in turning it over, T-#71 in getting turnovers. There are 120 teams in the FBS, so we are in the bottom 20% in TOs, and close to the median in getting them.
November 26th, 2010 at 1:26 AM ^
Maybe Karma is wreaking havoc and punishing the college football teams who have been most blessed in the past. I can only hope this is true:
Most winningest teams in college football:
November 26th, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
has spent their time in the Dog House (no bowls, losing seasons, etc.) in the 90's or the 00's.
This includes OSU in the 90's.
Texas has been there before. Remember "Rout 66" against UCLA?
We thought we were immune at Michigan, but we are just the latest victim. They all bounced back though . . . mostly with, um, coaching changes.
November 26th, 2010 at 2:07 AM ^
This is a good year to go to A&M
November 26th, 2010 at 3:09 AM ^
I'm a fan of Texas, but I'm kind of happy, actually. I don't have to listen to my girlfriend spout off about how great UT is and how much Michigan sucks. A bullet in the chamber, if you will
November 26th, 2010 at 7:58 AM ^
I hear you man, my gf went to UF so she has no room to talk either this year
November 26th, 2010 at 9:14 AM ^
you LISTEN to your girlfriend?
November 26th, 2010 at 11:02 AM ^
.......has officially been worse than UM's 2007 season. A preseason top five pick to ineligible for a bowl. Even with the Horror, UM still finished well enough to not only go to a bowl, but to the CapOne bowl where we defeated a UF team led by a Heisman winning QB.
As an aside, IMO, VaTech's season is similar to that 2007 season for us. They were top ten in the preseason, lost to a FCS school, lost to a very good team at the start, and were pretty good the rest of the way. The biggest difference, of course, is that VaTech looks like they will make a BCS bowl by going undefeated throughout conference play, including their championship game.
November 26th, 2010 at 11:05 AM ^
As a poster above said. The turnovers have killed them. They've killed their own drives, and they've given other teams short fields all over the place. Its really hard to win, as we know, when you give the other team the ball for free.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:01 PM ^
Any chance Will Muschamp will be fired? I know he's Brown's successor but maybe there's an outside chance he'd consider leaving for the DC job in AA. He claims the UT job is the elite coaching job, but that's only coz he hasn't been offered an elite job with us yet.
November 26th, 2010 at 12:45 PM ^
I doubt it. Personally I didn't think the D was what did them in this year. There was room for improvement, but I think the D kept them in a lot of games they shouldn't have been close in (especially OU). Of course, I don't really know what a good defense looks like anymore, so I may be a bit off.
November 26th, 2010 at 3:00 PM ^
It's another exhibit in the growing pile of evidence that RODRIGUEZ is the savior of Michigan football!
YES! Mack Brown PROVES that Rodiguez is on the right track and will have Michigan winning Big Ten and National Championships by next Thursday!
Give Rich Rod a ten-year extension before he is snapped up by someone who can see through the crap and understand Rodriguez's MASTER PLAN!!!!