Morning Coffee Checks In On The Award Circuit
by Peter Bean on Dec 10, 2008 3:00 PM CST
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Inside the box score. I was exhausted last night and forced to scramble through a quick post-game wrap earlier today, so let's take a few minutes to peruse the box score from last night's win over Villanova.
- 19-50 (38%) - Villanova FG % Texas did a phenomenal job making life difficult for Villanova's perimeter players in general, but the job Justin Mason did on Scottie Reynolds was simply masterful. That Mase is also playing solid point guard (7 assists, 2 TOs) for Texas on the other end is just remarkable.
- 16:13 (TX) / 13:19 (VU) Assists:Turnovers. The 'Horns picked up 16 assists on their 25 made baskets and would have hit the 20 assist mark if a few chippies inside hadn't been missed. The smothering defense is wonderful, but the progress on offense is the key to this team elevating from very good to elite.
- 11-24 Texas FTs. Yikes. For the season, Texas has now converted just 97 of 166 free throws (58%). Damion (63%) and Gary (65%) need to get their percentages north of 70%. Clint Chapman (1-12), Varez Ward (5-14), and Mase (12-27) need try shooting with their eyes open. My God.
- 15 minutes, 0 points, 0 boards, 2 TOs - Connor Atchley. I defended him in the game thread last night (he's quietly been more solid than most realize this season), but he definitely hasn't appeared to be in a groove of late, and he was flat out bad last night. If he's hurt, he needs to rest. Still, Texas fans should be patient. He'll be fine.
- 21 minutes, 5 points 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers - Varez Ward. I shall call him Mini-Mase. The kid defends, hustles, rebounds, and will surprise you with an eye-opener on the offensive end once or twice a game. He's raw, but he's active in every phase of the game. Like Mase, he wasn't a recruit with a ton of hype, but he's quickly becoming a key contributor. Nice, Rick.
Awards watch. Let's start with Brian Orakpo, who already won the Bronco Nagurski Award honoring the nation's top defensive player. The Houston Chronicle reports Texas' freakish defensive end could become the first-ever Houston high school player to win the Lombardi Award, which honors the nation's top lineman or linebacker.
Meanwhile, Colt McCoy on Saturday night will try to join Ricky Williams as the second player to win the Heisman Trophy under Mack Brown's direction. Voting for the Heisman officially ends at 5 p.m. ET today, with trophy finalists announced on ESPN at 6 p.m. McCoy is certain to be a finalist. The Heisman Pundit is anticipating an exceptionally close vote.
Finally, over at ESPN.com, Big 12 blogger Tim Griffin names McCoy and Orakpo his conference MVPs on offense and defense. Griffin sensibly names Mack Brown his coach of the year:
After being picked to struggle before the season, Brown prodded the Longhorns to overachieve by leading them to a share of the South Division title and within a whisper of playing for the national championship. Building on the toughness he instilled late last season, his team thrived without a true featured running back and with a defense that thrived against the Big 12's best despite two starting freshmen safeties.
Ohio State pass defense. Taking a look ahead a month to the Fiesta Bowl match up with Ohio State, Keith at Buckeye Commentary is not thrilled with his team's bowl draw and isn't buying the thought that the Bucks will shut down Colt McCoy:
I know it is fashionable to say that Texas "has not seen a secondary/pass defense like Ohio State's," but if you watched any college football this season you know the Buckeyes have not slowed down any meaningful offense. The top 3 passing offenses that Ohio State faced this season: Illinois, Troy, and Purdue, in that order. The fourth best passing team, statisticlly speaking, carved them up to the tune of 4 touchdowns and threw a 35-yard wheel route to the fullback!
Looking at Ohio State's pass D game log, the opposition is a copendium of offensive mediocrity. Meanwhile, the Buckeys' own offense struggled to generate consistent yardage against the best defense's on its schedule.
Even so, Ohio State's exceptionally promising young freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor will only benefit from the month of bowl workouts, while running back terror Beanie Wells will assuredly be rested and healthy for the match up in Glendale. The steadily improved passing from Pryor gives Ohio State an offensive balance comparable to that which Texas saw from Oklahoma State; if Wells can do for Ohio State against the 'Horns what Hunter did for Oklahoma State, the Buckeyes will be able to move the ball.
Of course, it would help if they had a Dez Bryant occupying two members of our secondary, as well. Look for Muschamp to take away Beanie Wells and make Pryor beat the 'Horns with his arm.
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Completely agree about Varez
He’s so aggressive. I love that he’s not afraid to push the tempo and get to the basket on his own. He’s going to be a great slasher as he grows into the offense.
(He did have 2 awful turnovers, but the positives definitely outweighed the negatives).
Atchley Box Score
I checked that earlier and it was pretty dismal. He also had no rebounds, blocks, steals, or assists with 4 turnovers. I think this has to be the low point in his season. He has contributed solidly up to this game, as PB said. It seems to me that he usually needs a block or two to get fired up, jet down the court, and get set in his sweet spot for the open three. Also, I think it’s typical that his offensive game slowly increases in relevance to the team as season progresses.
I disagree that he has contributed solidly up to the Villanova game...
I did some makeshift statistical analysis last night and computed that Atchley was averaging 6.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in the five games prior to last night. Toss in last nights 0/0 effort and those number go down even more. You bring up a very interesting point though, and it’s one I should have shed more light on. Connor doesn’t necessarily have to score to contribute. Even last season, when he broke out, he only averaged 9.5 points a game. What is concerning to me, so far, is that he isn’t doing anything else either. He isn’t rebounding, blocking shots, or dishing out assists. And when he is taking shots, they are almost always three-pointers. He isn’t trying to do anything else offensively. It’s early, though, and Connor might have tweaked his ankle last night. He very well could be injured, as PB alluded to, but he is still getting the same minutes he got last year (roughly 27 a game).
Bad Conner
Atchley is getting knocked around under the basket. He seems to be shying away from contact. I wonder if he is getting beat up in practice.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Fiesta Bowl worries - running game
My biggest concern against tOSU is our lack of production from the running backs and our ability to stop Wells/Pryor.
If we cannot get the running game going, which quite frankly at this stage is pretty unlikely to materalize, our one dimensional offense plays right into tOSU’s strengths.
And for our of our impressive stats about run defense this year Ok. State gashed us with less talent at RB, QB (running QB), and OL.
I’ll be interested to see PB’s and the rest of the BON author’s takes on these when they do their game previews.
all great points...
but don’t underestimate the power of rest and prolonged preparation. the tank was about 1/3 full by the time we met OSU.
The offense has been rendered one-dimensional for the vast majority of the season and has still managed to put up impressive numbers. I doubt the running game will suddenly materialize in time for the Fiesta Bowl, but I have feel certain the offense will be able to produce like they have all season.
Disciplina Praesidium Civitatis.
The Big 10...
…is all about fat farm boys stopping the run. OK, that’s not entirely fair…they do consistently turn out a few dope-on-a-rope linebackers at Penn State and Ohio State that can turn in a pretty good 5th grade Christmas pagent type impersonation of Sergio Kindle. That said, the conference as a whole clings to their old timey, run-at-all-cost, big-boy offenses and they just don’t see what we do at Texas often enough to be able to defend it consistently.
The lines in the Big 10 are gigantic, and the splits not very large, so the backs that have historically ground out success are powerbacks like Beanie Wells or Shon Green. That said, the second-tier recruiters in the conference have decided to use the size of the big recruits against themselves and are now moving toward people like Javon Ringer or Rashard Mendenhall last season, who can bounce to the outside, make holes open that aren’t there for a more train-like back, shift in the backfield more easily, etc.
At the same time, no one in the current Big 10 makes you respect the pass.
Adding all of that up, what you get is the fact that even teams that aren’t great (Illinois ‘07) they can win the whole damn conference just by making you respect a concept of the spread…not even something as refined or nearly as athletic as what we’re running. Look at Penn State this season. Have they dominated anyone that matters and put up Big 12-esque numbers every week? Sorry, congrats on the Rose Bowl, but I’m no buying the hype. Pryor may be getting better at slinging the ball for the Buckeyes, but would anyone really want him over Colt McCoy at this very moment? We shut down their run, load up the box, and I promise he cannot beat us with his arm. It’s just not going to happen. Great recruit or not.
I saw this with all due respect the Buckeyes, and I’m CERTAINLY not overlooking them and assuming we’ll paste them in the Fiesta bowl, but their team just isn’t built to defend what we do on offense. It’s why both they, and their conference, have been so embarrassed lately on the big stages.
Pryor
Thus far has thrown the ball for more than 200 yards once (226 against Penn State 0 TDs 1 Int) and thrown over 150 one other time (197 against Northwestern 3 TDs).
He has also had 3 starts with under 100 yards passing.
But hes a great rusher right?
Colt has more yards, more yards per carry, and more touchdowns than Pryor.
Pryor may end up good, but he certainly isnt there yet. If we stuff Wells and put the game on Pryor, we will show the Buckeyes what kind of Defense we can play.
by BoddickerIsClutch on Dec 11, 2008 4:13 PM CST up reply actions
FTs are always my pet peeve
Clint Chapman: one FT out of 12 attempts. Seriously pathetic. As a scholarshiped player at one of the nation’s top programs, how do you even function during the day knowing that you are so bad at shooting free throws? Instead of playing PS2 today, just stay after practice and shoot 200 free throws. Then tomorrow, do the same damn thing. I know, sometimes big dudes like Shaq just suck at shooting, and that’s okay. But shooting under 50% from the line is just lazy. Shooting under 10% is fucking crazy.
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