Let's Talk about the DBs

by billyzane on Sep 1, 2008 5:13 PM CDT

This isn't worthy of a main page story because I"m not sure how much I have to say about it, but I just want to hear what everyone thought of the DB situation. Blake Gideon showed me something in the first half that I was not expecting. He was all over the place making tackles. Earl Thomas was all over the place as well, except he was missing all of his tackles. Seemed to be just whiffing on arm tackles rather than wrapping up the ball carriers, which should be second nature for a safety. The good news is that always being the right place is much harder to teach than correct tackling technique. He should come along very quickly, I imagine.

Ryan Palmer was up and down. That huge Pass Interference call against him was legitimate, but he had great coverage on the play until the ball was underthrown and Palmer didn't turn around in time to avoid running over the WR. He was gifted the INT in the end zone by whoever it was that tipped the pass (anyone at home with a DVR catch who that was?), but generally I thought he had a good game.

Was anyone else SHOCKED to hear Chykie Brown starting over Deon Beasley? That feeling was exacerbated when Chykie didn't really show me anything. Of course, neither did Beasley.

Anyone else have any thoughts on any of these players or on Curtis Brown, Aaron Williams, Ben Wells, Christian Scott or Nolan Brewster? How do you think they did?

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Beasley

I was definetely shocked/dissapointed that brown got the start over Beasley. Hopefully Beasley takes the spot back soon and turns the corner because he has the talent.

I also think it was Earl Thomas? who tipped the ball to palmer

by Egonz on Sep 1, 2008 5:17 PM CDT 0 recs

Beasley had tweaked...

his hamstring in the closing weeks of camp. That’s why Chykie gained ground so fast, but I definitely expect to see improvement out of both of them.

My adopted son Sergio Kindle does not sleep; he waits.

by mvplonghorns on Sep 1, 2008 7:49 PM CDT up 0 recs

Secondary

They struggled a bit, particularly with missed tackles. I actually was not impressed with Gideon; I thought he got picked on several times. I thought Palmer did relatively well, but I was expecting a bit more out of our corners. The mistakes by the safeties were frustrating but expected.

However, the missed tackles are inexcusable. Two missed tackles led to two giant plays for FAU, and contributed to the 224 yards passing in the first half (which is not good). The only reason FAU didn’t score on those plays was because we’re simply faster than them and caught up; if we make those mistakes against a better team, our secondary might as well wave goodbye as they streak to the endzone. I hope Muschamp chews into them for those missed tackles. If we blitz, we simply can’t miss tackles like that because there’s no one behind. But you’re right; at least they were there to make the play. Addressing missed tackles seems generally easier than addressing the fact that they simply weren’t there to make a play.

Beasley should have been better, but I think him and Palmer should get the starting nods. Chykie struggled a bit in the beginning, but all in all, I thought the entire secondary adjusted for the second half. Safeties played hard but I want to see better coverage from them when opponents spread the entire field.

by TheElusiveShadow on Sep 1, 2008 6:15 PM CDT 0 recs

I think this point was made before

But I’ll repeat: Rome wasn’t build in a day. Missing tackles is part of the learning process. So is missing coverages.

Anybody remember McCoy just prior to and in the early stages of 2006? He talked about the game “slowing down” as he began to adjust to the speed and movement of his receivers and the coverage and pass rush. Same with the young DBs — give ’em at least a few games for the process t o start to slow down.

As for some of the play busts, check the halftime adjustments — notably the use of more five-man secondary. I don’t think you can slow down four-and five-receiver sets with the familiar 4-3; I’d say the 4-2-5, even a 3-3-5 alignment is necessary at times. Again, this takes time. Muschamp knows this; he has to convince the establishment, and that process began after the big plays on Saturday night.

Regretably, there likely will be some big-time costly busts in October. Price you pay for having a gigantic hole in the recruiting process like the one we have now: one senior DB this year, two next year, four last year and one of those was originally a walk-on (Marcus Griffin) and one a multi-position guy (Kelson).

With the never-ending need for speed and the heavy usage of DBs on special teams, Mack ought to recruit four, minimum, every year. They recruited one in 2005 and lost two of the four who signed in 2006. Not good.

by edsp on Sep 1, 2008 9:48 PM CDT up 0 recs

By no means

Am I saying that it should have been perfect. As I note in my post, the mistakes were expected and I thought the secondary adjusted well at the half. Nonetheless, just because they were expected doesn’t mean they were excusable. They’re going to have to tackle more effectively, arguably the most basic skill for a defender. Such mistakes will come with greater consequences as we enter our Big 12 schedule.

Nonetheless, I am happy to see them play hard and fast and they clearly got better as the game progressed. That’s what makes me optimistic; Muschamp obviously knows how to adjust at halftime and these guys have shown the capacity to learn. They will probably give up more big plays this year, but I think they will also make big plays themselves.

by TheElusiveShadow on Sep 1, 2008 10:27 PM CDT up 0 recs

Prior to.....

….season’s start, I felt the youth and inexperience of our D-Backfield would be a true concern. I saw nothing to make me change my mind. Lord we have tremendous physical talent and fabulous depth. However, physical talent didn’t concern me. It is the cerebral part of the game that makes me nervous. Most of my “football buddies” joined me in calling the first half play of our D-Backs as a Chinese firedrill. Lots of physical talent helped to overcome, or partially overcome, some of the mental errors. Muschamp did a fantastic job of getting things turned around during halftime.

The game turned out as I had expected. We were the better team by a wide margin. Ten points was my over/under. If we held them to 10 or less than I felt we we would have been successful. We did and I am quite happy.

With that said, it was just Florida Atlantic. As I had pointed out earlier, they lost to OU-Lite by 36 last season. They lost to Florida by 39 and allowed Kentucky to spank ‘em by 28 points last season. Winning the SunBelt, Mack’s favorite source of patsies, doesn’t qualify a team to play with the marquee programs of the BCS. UTEP is even worse. Arkansas almost lost to Western Illinois this past Saturday. Anyone wanting to call them a “real test” needs to see me about some ocean-front property in Montana. I was very enthused over the play of Rice, but hey, it was only SMU. I am glad to see Rice continuing to improve upon the success Major brought to that Rice squad.

Our D-Backfield should do fine against all the squads above. Hopefully, Muschamp can get some solid, steady improvement during the next 3 games. Now, when we have to travel to Boulder, deal with the thin air and face a quality HC in Dan Hawkins, then we’ll find out how this season will progress. Darrell Scott will be playing at full tilt and the game is Colorado’s homecoming.

I just want to see season-long, steady improvement that will prepare 4 starters (whatever four) to play for a chance at a 2009 NC. The same goes for our O-Line.

--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---

by HornChamps on Sep 1, 2008 7:18 PM CDT 5 recs

don't underestimate arkansas

they will bring it for the Texas game. even though i see us winning by 14+, they could/can still beat us. I might not be taking this game so seriously, but they beat the hell out of us in 2002 and we were suppose to win by a large margin then.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
~Fred Allen

by Hook'em13 on Sep 1, 2008 7:40 PM CDT up 0 recs

Exactly

And this was a new coach with a new system. Arkansas is actually going 21st century offensively under Petrino after years of ground-oriented stuff like Nutt’s, and back in the day the option Kenny Hatfield employed. Also, the Hogs are very much rebuilding.

Arkansas will be vastly improved from its opener in coming weeks.

by edsp on Sep 1, 2008 9:36 PM CDT up 0 recs

21st century offense

Arkansas is actually going 21st century offensively under Petrino after years of ground-oriented stuff like Nutt’s

Actually, Nutt’s use of a motion series at Arkansas has been copied all over the country, at all levels of football. While the single wing motion series isn’t new, he certainly revived interest in it this century. 21st century offense indeed.

I think most teams would be thrilled with two backs who rush for over 1000 yds each.

by Beergut on Sep 2, 2008 12:32 AM CDT up 0 recs

agreed

As much grief as Nutt gets over his dishonest treatment of his offensive recruits, he got the most out of a bad Arkansas team last year, even knocking off the national champs in Fayetteville.

That said, McFadden and Jones were possibly the two most talented RBs in the entire country last year and that helps in any scheme.

by hodad on Sep 2, 2008 12:01 PM CDT up 0 recs

Rec'd

Tellin’ it like it is.

--PB--

by PB @ BON on Sep 1, 2008 8:35 PM CDT up 0 recs

how much of the improvement

was halftime adjustments, and how much was FAU pulling their starting QB?

Didn’t he have over 200 yds passing in the first half?

by Beergut on Sep 2, 2008 12:30 AM CDT up 0 recs

He wasnt pulled to start the 3rd quarter

As I recall, he played at least half of the third quarter and then got pulled, but yes, people are definitely overlooking this factor a bit in exalting the halftime adjustments.

by billyzane on Sep 2, 2008 8:30 AM CDT up 0 recs

Well...

….we’re all allowed our own expectations. Arkansas beat a Div.1-AA team (can’t recall what they’re called this season) by all of 4 points. With 1/3rd of the 4th quarter elapsed, the Hogs were down by 10 points. They had to score two 4th quarter touchdowns to avoid the upset.

Arkansas lost more players to the NFL Draft than we did this year, including two 1st Round RBs. They lost 2 of their starting O-Linemen and are having to learn a pass oriented offense. Personally, I expect Arkansas to finish no better than 6-6, probably 5-7. If they can stay within 21 points of our Longhorns, I’ll be quite surprised.

--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---

by HornChamps on Sep 1, 2008 11:52 PM CDT 0 recs