Storylines from the ISU Game
by billyzane on Oct 14, 2007 3:14 PM CDT
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PrintI got a surprising and appreciated reprieve from work this saturday afternoon so I was able to watch the game after all. And what did I do with this gift of no work on the weekend? I took copious notes on the game. After a while though, it ended up feeling like work so I stopped at some point in the second half, but as I look back over them, I think I can pull out a few storylines from the game that we should perhaps be talking about this coming week and beyond.
*The O-line did a very good job this week of protecting colt. I don't remember one time where he was knocked down other than when he did that ridiculous break-dance spin move and then recovered and threw to a wide-open Nate Jones for a TD. But you can't put that on the O-line. It remains to be seen whether this was an improvement or whether ISU is just terrible (my guess is a little bit of the former and a whole lot of the latter).
*Somewhat relatedly, Colt seems much more comfortable rolling out than he does in the pocket. It may just be that Colt has happy feet in the pocket because he keeps getting the crap beat out of him when he stays, but I can't count the number of times Colt unnecessarily rolled out. He seems to throw better on the run too.
*Continuing on this same explanatory thread, the Texas offense is better on broken plays than on called plays. When Colt and the receivers improvise, good things happen. Case in point: the first offensive play of the game. I wrote in my notes: "Shipley wide the fuck open on an unnecessary colt rollout....ISU safety crept up thinking colt was running." Effectively what happened was Colt got happy feet and rolled out when he didn't have to. Which of course killed the called play. But then the Colt rollout caused the safety to creep up to stop a Colt run, but the CB was playing a zone and had let shipley behind him, thinking he still had safety help. It was a broken play, but Colt and his receivers have the type of chemistry that really works on broken plays. 11 seconds and 58 yards later, it was 7-0 Texas.
*Extrapolating on this, I know the tendency will be to blame this on Greg Davis being a terrible play-caller and any broken play works better than whatever bullshit GD called. Perhaps there's something to that. But perhaps, instead, Colt is just a playmaker. We have a tendency to put Colt in this category of "game manager" because he looks like one. He's a coach's son; he's smart; he's not incredibly physically gifted; he's white; etc. We tend to think he's built to run a structured offensive system. But I'm beginning to think the kid's a playmaker, not a game manager. Remember when VY struggled within the offensive system that was put in place for him (rollout QB in the Ell Roberson mold - remember Ell Roberson? Anyone?)? Then the coaches took the reigns off of Vince and gave him more freedom to improvise and he became the greatest college football player ever. You can't expect the same level of results with Colt, but maybe it's time to think about letting Colt improvise more. Not just call his own audibles, etc (which GD thinks led to a lot of Colt's struggles the first half of the year and I have no reason to doubt is true), but actually simplifying the offense and letting Colt and his receivers do what they do best: improvise on broken plays.
*Brandon Foster isn't terrible! Hooray! He had a couple of good pass breakups, especially the one in the endzone on Blythe, who has like 6 inches on him. He did exactly what a short guy is supposed to do in that situation: stay in front and grab the arms of the receiver when you can't reach the ball. Excellent play. And the pick-6 was excellent anticipation. I'm not sure whether it was based on his reading of the QB or something he picked up earlier in the game, but he jumped that route like he saw it coming a mile away.
*Bobino and Killebrew are still terrible. From my notes, early in the game: "Foster makes a tackle on a run twice. Where are the LB’s???" and "ISU run up middle. LB’s nowhere to be found. Jackson makes a leg tackle." Terrible.
*Despite ISU being terrible, the D-line didn't get a whole lot of pressure on Meyer. ISU double-teamed Orakpo all day long, it seemed, which they were doing on the one play on which Texas got a sack (by Lamarr Houston, from the other side). For how good out D-Line allegedly is, we haven't been getting a lot of sacks or even very much pressure on opposing QB's. No one's talking about this, but it's a problem. Some of it undoubtedly falls on the blitzing LB's because Bobino seemingly hasn't even sniffed a QB all season, but at the least, he should be taking up a blocker, allowing the d-line to get to the QB faster. But no. Nothing.
*Does anyone still want Chiles running meaningful drives? I guess some of you probably do, but I'm not in that camp. Chiles might be great at some point. At some point maybe we should think about giving him drives to run on his own. But right now? Um, he's a true freshman and he showed it yesterday. He had to call a timeout because the play clock was running down (actually, the sideline had to call a timeout for him because he didn't realize it was running down). He ran a nice option with Oggie, ran downfield looking for someone to block, and then ran right past the defender who ended up tackling Oggie. Then he overthrew his receiver by 5 yards down the sideline. I think there's a place for him in the offense, but he should not be running meaningful drives by himself at this point. He's just not ready. [By the way, what was with the Chiles drive being nothing but second-stringers playing for Texas? Something to make Chiles feel more comfortable (playing with the same guys he does in practice)? It was like the Orange-White game out there.]
*The offense really bought into the "pass to set up the run" theory of play-calling. And it worked to perfection. Texas didn't run the ball once until midway through the second drive, passing relentlessly and effectively. And then on the 4th drive (after the weird spring-scrimmage-style drive), Jamaal got his first carries and ran brilliantly, as ISU was scared to death of the play action. If you're counting, and I most certainly am, that's two consecutive well-called games by Greg Davis. I'm just saying.....
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My favorite quote from Mack
In the post game presser, was something like "Well, instead of trying to force the run, like we had been, we decided to just take what they give us and if the spread out for the pass, we'll run it, and if they wad up, we'll through it over their heads."
Oh, so we're going to do what will work best against the defense at hand instead of stubbornly playing into their game plan? Great idea! And it only takes ~$4 million a year for these coaches? BARGAIN!
Thanks, BZ
If I start taking notes, it gets compulsive; so it's watch the game or take notes. But those notes sure can help keeping up with important details which can later get lost in the mix.
Try this: I thought Sherrod Harris looked much better, no knee problems were evidenced by his moves. He was stuck in hold-it mold because Mack didn't want to score anymore on Chizik. I would have loved to see him with some real playing time: there was a reason he was second team over Chiles and, I think, after seeing Chiles' judgment out there, that the Horns need to get Sherrod back into #2. He has more training and, to me, it shows. Right now Chiles' legs are vastly better than his football decisions. The key is that down the line we might need a real #2 and I don't think Chiles is going to be that player.
But perhaps, instead, Colt is just a playmaker.
I think you have something there. While most everyone knows Colt's football history, people forget he was also a shooting guard in basketball ball (all-state as a junior) while being the point guard his senior year. Plus he was a three-year regional qualifier in the mile relay and the 110-high hurdles.
The kid may not be the super 1% athlete, but he was a heck of an athlete who managed teams who won and won a lot. And they all did it with him as a playmaker. And it may be the Sundance Kid syndrome: "Can I move?"
What makes Colt comfortable, what makes Colt the best playmaker possible is what will allow this team to shoot all the bullets it possesses, which is a lot. And the Horns need exactly that to take the pressure off the defense.
Last, your note that the DL is not quite as dominant as we'd thought is one of those damn nagging facts that we don't wanna face. I generally don't watch the DL that closely; maybe someone out there has the experience and eyes to expand on that. I agree that the LB blitzes are by-and-large pretty useless. Matter of fact, I haven't seen a good blitz package yet and I expected vastly better. Maybe the DL isn't getting good packages either?
Last, the pass-to-set-up-the-run, the take-what-the-opponents-are-giving was great. That's what smart teams do. I don't think this team has been smart most of the time - and that goes to coaches. I don't know whether it is a matter of capacity or concept or just bull-headedness.
Thanks for the write-up. Enjoyed it.
no, thank YOU
you've been a very welcome addition to the community here these past few months, along with some other relatively new people (horn brain and jc25 come to mind, among others). i love it. keep it up. [though i'm a little jealous that you're a better writer than me....jerk....]
It should be
"you're a better writer than I am."
It has to begin somewhere.
by BrooklynHorn on Oct 15, 2007 12:34 AM CDT up reply actions
you are correct, sir
and i know better. though i have worked on drafting supreme court briefs with a man generally regarded as one of the greatest writers and lawyers of his generation (someone else's words, not mine; though i wouldn't disagree with them), and on a regular basis he purposefully muddied up some of his sentences and used poor punctuation in order to force the justices to re-read and think about what he believed to be extremely important sentences.
I, however, was just being lazy.
Nice to feel welcome
And I doubt if I'm a better writer; maybe more practiced. You express yourself, your emotions and your sense of community well in your own developed voice. That will only get better and richer. And definitely more fun.
ISU really blows, BUT....
that was one of the best games I've ever seen from a Texas QB.
His performance rivals VY's breakout game against NU.
McCoy was just fucking awesome.
His best game since OU last year.
by cortexas on Oct 14, 2007 10:20 PM CDT reply actions
Not Good
He needs to learn how to go through his progressions because it seems like once the first read is covered he starts scrambling around. Although it has been succesful it will improve his chances of getting hurt and hinder our running game because the coaches will exculsively go with the gun.
GD needs to run a more under the center type of offense, in my opinion. Colts tactics may work now and maybe even the rest of the season but what about next year and the year because you know Bob Stoops and Co. will adjust.
by longhorn4life on Oct 14, 2007 11:04 PM CDT reply actions
Colt the runner, the pass rushers
Great post. I agree with many of your assessments (see the postgame thread).
I've always thought Colt was a better runner than people thought (last year's Texas Tech game and last Saturday). If not for the risk of getting hurt, I'd like to see a few (just a few) more of the option plays they ran once. If for no other reason than if he pitches, he gets the ball to Jamaal Charles or whomever at speed. He has quickness but no strength to break tackles, which makes him not like VY, who could gain three yards just by falling down. But still he can be an effective quarterback running enough times to make a defense think.
I think the biggest reason Colt has happy feet and throws better on the run is that even the bad teams have pushed the center of the UT line back into Colt's face. With the tipped balls of the KState game in his head, I think he's just afraid to step up into the pocket. This makes his deep balls short. I think also he is having trouble seeing the field in the pocket, and that may explain why he scrambles so quickly. I agree the line did better on Saturday, but 5 times I looked for it, Dallas Griffin was back on his heels 3-4 yards back and Colt had to shift to either side of him to get a pass off. I think the main reason for our improvement has been the return of Ulatoski to the lineup. In the plays I watched him, he stuffed his guy every time and cleaned up on run plays pretty well. I wonder if his elbow or arm was injured even before the TCU game.
Finally, the pass rush has been weaker than expected. I watched Lamarr Houston rush on about six plays and he seems to lack the strength to beat OL consistently. Okam and Miller together always seem to get pressure, but our ends don't seem to be able to collapse the pocket, so the QB's just step around. I've never seen LB's disappear as completely as the KBD gang. Bobino and Killebrew in particular seems to always misjudge where the RB will go and where the gap in the rush will be and thus either overrun the play, take the wrong angle (Murray of OU's touchdown run) or get tied up with blockers. On one play, Bobino was so bad at this that an OL blocked both him and Lokey at the same time! Derry may know what's going on, but he is always making the play with a weak arm tackle 3 yards further down the field than he should.
BZ...
Were you in my head? These were pretty much the exact notes I had, except I took them mentally and thus have forgotten about them after the LSU-UK excitement and Houston Texans meltdown.
I watched my boy Dallas Griffin whenever I remembered to do so, and you're right...the line looked great. Even the two (?) sacks Colt took were coverage sacks, and not a result of the line getting demolished.
Josh Freeman against Texas > Michael Bishop > Ell Roberson > Josh Freeman against all other teams
The secondary was completely covering for the shoddy linebacking performance whenever Kill and Bobino were in the game. It's so blatantly evident that it's not even worth talking about anymore.
Not sure if Sherrod is the answer, but I liked the whole put in the second team for a series in the first half. Maybe wait til we have a 21 point lead, though. For more important games, what would look better, though, is what we've been doing...get Chiles in there with the first team for a play or two a la Ryan (fuck you) Perrilloux to keep the defense on their toes. When you play Chiles for a whole series, the defense is pretty much expecting zone read the entire time.
Nice work BZ, but time for debate
I agree that Colt can make plays, and I really like that about him. However:
Greg Davis' best offensive game came against oklahoma. Right before that game the coaches publically stated that they were going to cut down on Colt's options and simplify the pre snap adjustments. It sounded to me like they had decided to reign in Colt for OU.
Could it be that when Colt is given too much ability to freelance the offense turns ugly?
Follow one possible chain of events with me.
2006 season: Colt gets the starting job and excels within GD's passing scheme. If not for pathetic goal line offense UT is BCS bound.
2007 season: The coaches are so impressed by '06 that they give Colt tons of freedom within the offense. Colt struggles mightily, 8 TDs to 9 INTs. At oklahoma GD finally decides to limit Colt within the offense, Colt has a great day and UT almost pulls off the upset.
Perhaps Colt's role should be a playmaker within the offensive scheme.
I'm making a distinction
between 1) giving Colt free reign to change plays at the line of scrimmage and audible based on what he sees in the defense, and 2) allowing Colt to improvise within a called play.
#1 makes the offense more complex, and #2 makes the offense less complex. We did #2 with VY and that's what allowed him to be great. A play was called and he rarely changed it at the line. What he was allowed to do was improvise as the play was happening. If it's a called pass, he can take off if the space is there, etc.
Obviously, the improvisation that VY did would look different than the improvisation that Colt would do. But we've seen what Colt can do when improvising. Every time we rolls out of the pocket (with or without being pressured), he's improvising. He and his receivers have an amazing chemistry to where they very often get open once the called play breaks down. We scored 2 TD's this way against ISU. I merely think we should be encouraging this within the offensive system.
F that!
You beat me!
Also, thanks for the compliment earlier. Much mutual respect, here.
ok
so we're saying that he should take the play call, limit his LOS checks, and run the play. If it's not there immediately then scramble around and try to create with help from his wideouts.
Works for me. Two issues that I've noticed though.
The first worry is that Colt blurs the line between keeping a play alive and holding onto the ball for too long. I specifically remember one play during RRS where he rolled out and hung onto the ball for way too long and got sacked.
The other issue is arm strength. On the first TD against ISU, Shipley had to stop and wait forever for the ball to get to him. During RRS, Colt rolled out on a broken play and tossed it deep to Sweed. Limas had several steps on the DB but had to come back for the ball and try to pull it in over the defender.
I agree that's a problem
More or Less
I think BZ said that simplifying Colt's role in the offense was akin to reducing the offense to like 10 plays out of the shotgun for VY. Take the easy yards if the defense gives them to you, but if not, let your playmakers have fun and improvise, because that's usually where you get your freak, explosive plays that really light your team up. An "explosive" play is more than just a play that gets x yards, it has to have a part of it where you go "Oh, crap! Did he just do that?" Those freak 30 yd scrambles by Vince were much more demoralizing than a 30 yd pitch and catch on a designed route.
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