Welcome to the HornSports Forum

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our Texas Longhorns message board community.

SignUp Now!

Five Thoughts Following The Win Over West Virginia

Daniel Seahorn

On the 40
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
8,458
[SIZE=12.0pt]Heck of a win by the Longhorns today in Morgantown to get bowl eligible. Will Grier going out with a broken finger on his throwing hand early on changed everything the Mountaineers did offensively and it certainly took the pep out the home crowd. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]With Grier out, the Texas defense only allowed 7 offensive points to West Virginia and kept the offense in check for much of the game. The other 7 points game via a misguided throw from Sam Ehlinger that ended up going the other way for a touchdown. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]With or without Grier on the field today, this was a big win in several ways for Tom Herman’s bunch and it should be celebrated accordingly considering what has transpired for most of the year. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=12.0pt]The Longhorns are going bowling, baby! [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]After the past few years the Longhorn fan base has learned not to take bowl games for granted. Texas hasn’t been bowling since 2014 and that resulted in a blow out at the hands of Arkansas in the Texas Bowl down in Houston. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]Texas needed to win one of the two remaining games on their schedule and both were far from being a given. I honestly didn’t see a Longhorn victory in the cards this afternoon, but the Mountaineers losing Grier early on made a big difference and the offense showed some signs of life on the road in a hostile environment. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]Going bowling is obviously good for several reasons for Texas. Despite the program still being a work in progress, it’s a step in the right direction and it continues to show that progress is being made in Austin. This is far from the standard of course, but the team has been competitive in a matchup and they will get to benefit from the extra practices in December. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]On top of that, the upperclassmen in the program that have never experienced a bowl game will get to do just that before they graduate and I think everyone can appreciate that. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=12.0pt]The return of Connor Williams provides a jolt[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]We’ve beat up the offensive line for their pitiful performance this year, so it is only right that we highlight them when they have a solid day at the office. For starters, it was great to see 55 suited up and looking like his old self out there today. Williams set the tone early on the first drop back of the game, as he dominated his man and finished him off for good measure. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]The offensive line overall just looked different in a good way with Williams out there and aside from keeping Sam Ehlinger and Shane Buechele clean today (though Zach Shackleford would have given up a sack had Ehlinger ate the ball on the interception) they took it to the Mountaineer defense to the tune of 233 yards rushing on 5.5 yards per tote. You will take that all day and twice on Sundays. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]The bad news of the day was the offensive line suffering yet another injury when Patrick Vahe left the game with a knee injury. With Vahe out Terrell Cuney slid to left guard and Shackleford was inserted at center, so this will be your likely grouping going forward if Vahe has to miss extended time. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=12.0pt]The defense comes up big once again [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]With Holton Hill being out for the rest of the year, I felt like the defense was going to be in a bit of trouble when it came to covering the productive Mountaineer wide receivers. While Grier being out certainly impacted the game, the secondary held their own and then some against the likes of David Sills and Ka’Ruan White. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]None of the Mountaineer wide receivers cracked 75 yards receiving today and on top of that, the defense held running back Justin Crawford to 64 yards on the ground. As mentioned earlier, the defense only allowed 7 points to a normally potent offense, and they also forced two timely turnovers via fumbles. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]This unit has kept some very explosive offenses in check this year and I imagine they will be up to the task next week against Texas Tech in the regular season finale. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=12.0pt]Texas landed a hidden gem in Daniel Young [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]While I will forever be miffed about the mishandling of the JK Dobbins recruitment, I have to say that it looks like Texas found themselves a nice player in Daniel Young. The freshman from Westfield seems to get better each week as he continues to get more involved in the offense.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]It looked like he would easily go over the 100 yard mark, but he ended up settling for 85 yards rushing on 12 carries (7.1 yards per carry) and a touchdown, while also notching 3 receptions for 14 yards. He does a little bit of everything for the offense and as long as he continues to improve in blitz pickup he will be on the field a lot over the next several years. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]I thought Toneil Carter was going to end up being the more productive back early in his Longhorn career, but Young is already making a name for himself despite not getting more touches sooner in the season.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=12.0pt]Big 12 refs at it again for the third consecutive week[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]Once again we all watched the referees opt not to throw a flag in-game only to review it and drop a flag on the Longhorns for the third week in a row. I had never seen this done before prior to the TCU game and definitely have never seen it called three straight weeks on the same team. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]You will be hard pressed to find another team in the country that this has happened to and I would love to get a clear explanation on what the rule is because it has reached absurd levels at this point.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]As far as Texas goes, they obviously need to either coach up their players better to avoid this reoccurring penalty or they need to dump that kind of screen completely, because it is obvious the refs are looking for it when Texas plays. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]I hate ending my thoughts on a sour note, but it is something that needed to be said. Today is a good day though, because the Longhorns picked up a big road win over the Mountaineers and can end the season 7-5 with a home victory over Texas Tech. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12.0pt]Bring on the Red Raiders. [/SIZE]

 
[SIZE=12pt]As far as Texas goes, they obviously need to either coach up their players better to avoid this reoccurring penalty or they need to dump that kind of screen completely, because it is obvious the refs are looking for it when Texas plays. [/SIZE]
I need to rewatch, but I believe we called the same screen play on the first drive of the second half and the WR made sure to stay well behind the LOS, so seems like the adjustment was finally made.

 
I need to rewatch, but I believe we called the same screen play on the first drive of the second half and the WR made sure to stay well behind the LOS, so seems like the adjustment was finally made.
Yep. I thought the exact same thing when I saw the play. 

 
I was skeptical about the amount of overall improvement we would see on the offensive line with Williams coming back, but the unit as a whole looked a lot better today. Kerstetter is going to be a good one.

 
[SIZE=12pt]·         [/SIZE][SIZE=12pt]Big 12 refs at it again for the third consecutive week[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Once again we all watched the referees opt not to throw a flag in-game only to review it and drop a flag on the Longhorns for the third week in a row. I had never seen this done before prior to the TCU game and definitely have never seen it called three straight weeks on the same team. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]You will be hard pressed to find another team in the country that this has happened to and I would love to get a clear explanation on what the rule is because it has reached absurd levels at this point.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]As far as Texas goes, they obviously need to either coach up their players better to avoid this reoccurring penalty or they need to dump that kind of screen completely, because it is obvious the refs are looking for it when Texas plays. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]I hate ending my thoughts on a sour note, but it is something that needed to be said. Today is a good day though, because the Longhorns picked up a big road win over the Mountaineers and can end the season 7-5 with a home victory over Texas Tech. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Bring on the Red Raiders. [/SIZE]
It's pretty obvious the Big 12 condones what the officiating crews are doing with this. And that makes the Big 12 conference leadership a joke.

 
Didnt post during the game wanted to watch us beat our first top 25 from start to finish.

Couple of notes from this game:

- Sam should be the guy but he still tends to make critical mistakes.  USC and ou.   Hopefully he matures out of those.

- The refs are garbage as usual.  Another mystery review over no flag.  No facemask call on Hager either.

- Hall and A. Davis are both better than Locke.

- Why we run off right tackle is a mystery.  Conner made our backs look all conference on the left

Great win. now time to beat up some tortillas.

BTW shame on all of you that picked the hillbillies to win.  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
- The refs are garbage as usual.  Another mystery review over no flag.  No facemask call on Hager either.
If the review officials can call a penalty with no flag thrown on the field, why couldn't they do the same when Hager was facemasked?  

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Couple of notes from this game:

- Sam should be the guy but he still tends to make critical mistakes.  USC and ou.   Hopefully he matures out of those.
 I am thrilled with the win and join the chorus, singing the praises of Sam Ehlinger. He is a fearless,  competitor that the team seems to respond to! 

That being said, he had better mature out of brain dead decisions at critical points in football games.  My football watching pals were  trying to sell me on the “Bret Farve, gunslinger” nonsense and how you have to take the good with the bad.  BOLOGNA!  That throw on first down at the goal line puts a high school freshman on the bench.  It’s outright football dumb and verywell could have cost Texas the game.  This isn’t the first instance either which causes me great concern.  

I love the kid, but gunslinger or not someone really needs to  get his attention in this area.  

 Bravo Texas, we are clearly moving in the right direction for the first time since Colt went down.  

 
- Sam should be the guy but he still tends to make critical mistakes.  USC and ou.   Hopefully he matures out of those.
By the way, you left out OSU which is probably the most grievous.  Not to nitpick...

 
 My most important thought after this game is how amazingly well Connor played in his first game back. 

 Seems obvious to me his knee has been well long enough for him to regain his cardiovascular conditioning. Hats off to the coaches for not putting him in before he was fully ready. 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
            Texas has two adquate QBS but IMO neither can lead a top 10 team.Hopefully one of the incoming QB will step up however both should RS.

Watching other games made me wander what Ohio St. Alabama and another SEC schoolhave in common? Also what USC and UCLA have in common?

Food for  thought.

 
            Texas has two adquate QBS but IMO neither can lead a top 10 team.Hopefully one of the incoming QB will step up however both should RS.

Watching other games made me wander what Ohio St. Alabama and another SEC schoolhave in common? Also what USC and UCLA have in common?

Food for  thought.
That’s nuts man. Any team in the country would love to have Sam Ehlinger. True freshman don’t do what he does very often. And i’ll wager he does exactly what you say he can’t more than once in the next few years.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
 My most important thought after this game is how amazingly well Connor played in his first game back. 

 Seems obvious to me his knee has been well long enough for him to regain his cardiovascular conditioning. Hats off to the coaches for not putting him in before he was fully ready. 


bs2.gif


 
            Texas has two adquate QBS but IMO neither can lead a top 10 team.Hopefully one of the incoming QB will step up however both should RS.

Watching other games made me wander what Ohio St. Alabama and another SEC schoolhave in common? Also what USC and UCLA have in common?

Food for  thought.
Seems a little early to be bailing on Ehlinger. I could probably buy that on  Buechele, though I think you could do a lot worse at QB than him. 

 
Back
Top Bottom