Game Thread: Texas Longhorns @ Iowa State Cyclones

[DMAC]

 Just when you think it can't get any worse.

View attachment 5057

Should be 3 wheels off one for each coach the past 11 years

 

[Johnny Depp]

 Was Iowa St. the best team we've faced? Purdy didn't even hit a passing TD, it could have been worse, a WR throws the only TD pass.

 We are 8-1 in the 1st half? One of weakest links, Schooler the safety leads the team in tackles with 12.

103 yds. passing. 102 yds. rushing. For the whole game. 10 minutes less time of possession. 1st downs 11 vs. 23.

11 punts. No 4th down attempts.

Outscored 102-27 in the last 4 second halfs.

 

[Eastexhorn]

Right now this team has more rated talent than any other team not named OU.

Right now this team is not a well coached team. And is losing to better coached lesser talented teams.

This team might not be quitting, but sure fold thier tents when going gets tough.

Whats wrong do not ask me I do not knowbut suspect Texas needs a tough coach who says play a whole game or hit the road.

 

[DMAC]

Worse yet amidst all the losses, there’s almost no signs of development across the board. At the least, Texas fans could feel optimistic if there were encouraging signs from a player or positional standpoint, but that’s just not the case. As is, Texas still doesn’t have an answer at quarterback with Casey Thompson and Hudson Card each seemingly more suited for a reserve role, the offensive line remains atrocious and that’s a long-term issue that doesn’t get resolved in a season, and the list goes on into the receiver room and throughout the defense.

All in all, this is a team that’s underdeveloped — at least the results of any development aren’t visible in games — and plays without any sense of confidence or the ability to execute.

Cody Daniel.

https://www.burntorangenation.com/football/2021/11/6/22767551/texas-longhorns-blowout-loss-iowa-state-cyclones-steve-sarkisian

 

[DMAC]

Texas needs a tough coach who says play a whole game or hit the road.

^^ This

 

[Johnny Depp]

Based on our time of possession and negative yardage offense at times, our best play might be taking a knee and running out the clock on every possession before punting from better field position. I'm sure someone would jump offsides.

 

[NEOkHorn]

Please quantify and define what that last sentence even means.

All the quit talk needs to stop... it's silly. Actually it's needed to stop for a long time. It's not the players who asked for yet another new coaching staff.

When we got beat by Kansas under Strong a lot of fans said they quit. That never made sense due to all the players visibly distraught after the game because they knew Strong would get fired. They played hard for him and still lost, which made it even worse. Strong had made a mess, and they weren't a good team.

Right now this team is just not that good. They are getting beat by better teams. Claiming they quit is like claiming they should be 9-0 but are 4-5 because of lazy players. It's a cheap excuse to keep from admitting the state of the program is in bad shape and has been for a while. It's a cheap excuse from having to do the hard work of actually analyzing how we got here. 

When we got beat by Stoops in the early aughts guess what people said... 'they quit'. Not that Stoops outcoached Mack or had those teams better prepared. One of those teams accused of quitting would take most of the same players and win a NC. How could the same players accused of quitting later win it all?

Answer: It didn't make sense then and doesn't make sense now. All you do is insult the players when you accuse them of quitting in games they were outplayed. 

 It's pretty obvious after 4 losses that Sark and staff do a good job with gameplanning (we normally play well early and build a lead) but not doing well either with game adjustments or lack of depth to make the adjustments. Either way first coaching seasons tend to suck, and this one is no different. Stop blaming the players.

Notice the IF in the sentence you questioned. While I did not capitalize it originally, it is an implied big IF. Given all the crap that has gone on with coaching changes, coaching gaffs, spotlight from social awareness debates, etc. over the past 10 plus years, it is not inconceivable for some 17-21 year old young men say to themselves; “screw this”. IF it has happened already, then as others have asked, what other deeper issues could be contributing to the inability of Texas to right the ship after more than a decade? I don’t have the answer but do believe there is plenty of blame and questions to go around from the administration, the coaches, the players, and the fans.

Heck, I’ll even blame Kate for not showing up enough. 

 

[tejasrulz]

Notice the IF in the sentence you questioned. While I did not capitalize it originally, it is an implied big IF. Given all the crap that has gone on with coaching changes, coaching gaffs, spotlight from social awareness debates, etc. over the past 10 plus years, it is not inconceivable for some 17-21 year old young men say to themselves; “screw this”. IF it has happened already, then as others have asked, what other deeper issues could be contributing to the inability of Texas to right the ship after more than a decade? I don’t have the answer but do believe there is plenty of blame and questions to go around from the administration, the coaches, the players, and the fans.

Heck, I’ll even blame Kate for not showing up enough. 

What are the fans to blame for, spending thousands on tickets/parking/merchandise/food at the games?

 

[North Texas Golfer]

What are the fans to blame for, spending thousands on tickets/parking/merchandise/food at the games?

Yea, I've never understood blaming the fans for how bad a team is. Never made sense to me and no one has ever written anything that has even come close to changing my mind about it. 

 

[Eastexhorn]

IF Texas could win a game, would fans storm the field like TCU's did after beating Baylor?

 

[NEOkHorn]

What are the fans to blame for, spending thousands on tickets/parking/merchandise/food at the games?

Didn't want to risk leaving anyone out for fear of offending someone's sensitivity.

 

[zion3d]

I believe that Texas has become the scapegoat for unreasonable fans, donor interference, or administration indifference.  The truth is Alabama fans are just as unreasonable, the donors just as meddling, and the administration just as indifferent.  The difference is Nick Saban.  He has learned to bend the will of others to his will.  I have heard him speak of the Bama fans having unrealistic expectations even when they win. The fans think they should have won by more points.  The fans think they should win a natty every year.  He talks about the rat poison that is the press.  All of the things that Texas has Bama has with the exception of talent which comes down to a coaches ability to recruit and a head coach that will not bow to anyone and demands that they bow to his vision and coaching style.  Our problem?  There are no more Nick Saban’s to be had.  Makes you wonder what could have been if he would have came to Texas.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

"I can't make the other players play hard."

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I started watching the game late in the 2nd quarter just before Texas scored to go up 7-3. Did Casey get hurt or was he pulled? I'm hoping he was hurt because if Card is the answer, I'd hate to see the question. He missed wide open receivers multiple times, one for an easy TD and others for 1st downs.

Too much to say about the rest of the team/game. 3 years in a row we lose to Iowa St, that should never happen. To make matters even worse, the #1 Texas volleyball team lost last night to Baylor 3-1 to suffer their first loss of the year.

Casey was hurt and it showed in his passes. Once he was pulled, the camera showed him with a big ice bag on his hand.

 

[dillohorn]

Notice the IF in the sentence you questioned. While I did not capitalize it originally, it is an implied big IF. Given all the crap that has gone on with coaching changes, coaching gaffs, spotlight from social awareness debates, etc. over the past 10 plus years, it is not inconceivable for some 17-21 year old young men say to themselves; “screw this”. IF it has happened already, then as others have asked, what other deeper issues could be contributing to the inability of Texas to right the ship after more than a decade? I don’t have the answer but do believe there is plenty of blame and questions to go around from the administration, the coaches, the players, and the fans.

Heck, I’ll even blame Kate for not showing up enough. 

My note to captain hookem...............: Anyone with eyes can very easily see that this team is QUITING at the first sign of adversity in every game since ou. Effort stops and even caring disappears. No heart. I've watched UT football since 1958. I can see and I can hear. A lot of QUIT  and NO Heart in this team outside of a very few on the roster.

 

[TexCoyote]

I’m going to be patient…….and patience isn’t my strong suit.  I’m going to see what this staff does with the roster.  It’s easier to reshape a roster than it used to be.  He got a good recruiting class and I see alot of the kids and several parents saying they like Sark’s vision for the program.  It’s way different but look what Chris Beard did to shape his roster.  It’s going to be interesting moving forward to see how this shakes out.  

 

[Sirhornsalot]

Just to compare the Iowa State vs Texas recruiting classes the last 4 years:

Texas - Iowa State

2021: #15 - #59

2020: #8 - #46

2019: #3 - #46

2018: #3 - #55

Before you even say it because I know its coming.  Matt Campbell would NOT do any better here than Strong, Herman, or Sark.   I swear to god its like ground hog day in Texas.  We obviously went out our way to hire the worst fkn coach we could possibly find the last 3 cycles.  CDC just fooled us and baited us.  Nevermind Bama is not as good this year without Sark, that is just an illusion.  Strong, Herman, and Sark were doing great before they got here.  So spare me that bullshit

The truth is its a mixture and not any one thing. 

The players lack heart.  They have become complacent to losing.  Why do I say that?  There are kids on the bench in the 4th qtr and laughing and smiling when we just got our ass handed to us for 2 quarters.  Some of these kids dont give a shit if we win or lose. 

The coaches halftime adjustments are non existent.  Develop plays to offset the pass rush.  Explain to me why our LB cant fill gaps and do THEIR JOB.  They consistently fail at this.  47 Brockermeyer is the worst at it.  Every RB we face looks like hes in the Heisman race.

Player development is pathetic at Texas.  Its so bad other schools use it as a negative recruiting tool.  See NFL for more details.

I agree with most everything you've said above, except I think you left out our core problem – the OL.

You cannot coach up the bunch we have now. They are at their ceiling already. Over and over, game after game, you see our OL getting tossed about like rag dolls. You see them making mistake after mistake. 

Yesterday, I saw Kerstetter back peddle right into Card before he decided to engage his rusher. This is a 3-star we thought had been coached up to an NFL draft level. lol

Where we have sucked in recruiting is at OL. We have a 5-star OL on the roster who never plays well enough in practice to actually see the field. Tyler Johnson. He came for the free education and a 4-year vacation in the football program.

While yes, we have racked up some 4-5 star talent, we have been deficient, criminally deficient in evaluating the talent of those players, not just the measurables. In the secondary, you see this in Tyler Owens. Great physical traits, a freak of a specimen . . but a piss poor football player.

I don't think Sark is a bad coach. I don't think coaches suddenly suck when they get to UT. I don't think any of us can put a finger on the "one problem" because there is no "one problem." There are many. And this is what Sark walked right into.

We have a fan based that has been fooled into thinking we should be an 11-2 or or program right away. I'm not surprised to learn it is not.

Hell, what are you going to do? Disown the Horns? I don't think either of us can do that. I'll simply hope for the best for the rest of the year. I think we'll get a better idea of what kind of coach Sark is next season. He will have a full year to prepare and organize this team and will have knowledge of what he has among them.

Part of the reason Herman's teams played the easy win games so close is because his talent wasn't much better. I think Sark's play calling has been bad at times, but still a helluva lot better than Herman's ever was.

I think we were prepared to see immediate results and thats just not what was going to happen.

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I'll add this.

Take a look at Baylor and Aranda. They were 2-7 last year. Aranda was thought of as a coach in over his head. Baylor fan base was filled with disappointment.

Baylor was picked toward the bottom of the conference this year, following that 2-7 season.

Aranda has brought that program back. He's no longer viewed as in over his head. He has exceeded expectations, though just one year ago Baylor types thought they had made a big mistake.

We're just in the first quarter of this game. Let's see how this plays out.

 

[TexCoyote]

I'll add this.

Take a look at Baylor and Aranda. They were 2-7 last year. Aranda was thought of as a coach in over his head. Baylor fan base was filled with disappointment.

Baylor was picked toward the bottom of the conference this year, following that 2-7 season.

Aranda has brought that program back. He's no longer viewed as in over his head. He has exceeded expectations, though just one year ago Baylor types thought they had made a big mistake.

We're just in the first quarter of this game. Let's see how this plays out.

There are a bunch of examples of coaches improving their teams drastically.  That’s what makes this hard at Texas.  We want to see improvement. Good toughness,  fundamentals,  and play hard for 4 quarters. 
 

Y’all may not agree but here are some examples:

Pittman- Arkansas

Kiffin- Ole Miss

Heupel- Tennessee 

Fischer- A&M

Aranda- Baylor

Smart- Georgia 

Gundy is Gundy which is pretty freaking good 

Wells Iowa St- See Gundy 

There are more but these come to mind without even having to think about it.  
 

I know most of y’all would crap your pants but Sark ought to give Patterson a call to come be an analyst—-We need a hard ass.  Same with Orgeron- Recruiting.  We don’t need all nice guys.  

 

[Sirhornsalot]

I’m going to be patient…….and patience isn’t my strong suit.  I’m going to see what this staff does with the roster.  It’s easier to reshape a roster than it used to be.  He got a good recruiting class and I see alot of the kids and several parents saying they like Sark’s vision for the program.  It’s way different but look what Chris Beard did to shape his roster.  It’s going to be interesting moving forward to see how this shakes out.  

Good post. Honestly, I don't expect Beard to win it all or even get to the final four this year. But I think we'll see a team that plays hard, plays great defense, and plays to win.

I hope the team proves me wrong and lands in the final four though.

But the meat of this roster is full of people from everywhere else. Even with the time they've had, they need more time together to become the team they can be.