HuskerWooWoo Jan 30 08

I think calling the Longhorns super talented underachievers is right in every way. And if the coupld of UT fans I know are any indication there is some unrest with that distinction and with Mack Brown. Sounds like credit the national championship to Vince Young, saying he won in spite of Mack. Hating everything that is Texas (other than recruits who make the smart decision to go red) I hope they remain underachievers.

James Moore Jan 30 08

I definetly put Texas up there for the top spot in the underchievers list. Great depth, athleticism, and speed abounds year after year in Austin. It seems that without a Vince Young that this program will get its 9/10 wins but with Mack Brown at the head they will never put together a complete season. They look intriguing next year because backup QB Chiles looked EXCELLENT in the Holiday Bowl and with McCoy returning they will have a formidable 1/2 punch at QB. However. . .

Will Muschamp is NOT the type of defensive coordinator that the rest of us in the conference want to see down in Austin. He will get these guys to FINALLY play intense, sound individual tackling, assignment football and the weekly display of busted coverages should be coming to an end. Two years ago with 3 NFL first day picks in the secondary they were DEAD LAST in the nation against the pass. Better LB play is a must as well. Another point I'd like to bring up is that they seem to have colorful offseasons away from the field down there. A little better discipline off the field will help on it. Brown reminds me of Phillip Fullmer and subsequently Texas is the Tennessee of the Big 12. You've got to wonder what someone else would do with that bunch. . .

Paul Jan 30 08

As a Texas Fan, I regret to say that HuskerWooWoo and James Moore are right on. I've grown tired of repeatedly, week after week shaking my head on Saturdays in the Fall at how such a group of talented athletes can so consistently underachieve and struggle against inferior competition. If we lose to OU, I can at least deal with that because they have comparable athletes, but I have to break out the Dramamine or Jack Daniels when I recall the image of Ron Prince prancing down the sideline as his team chalked up their SECOND Touchdown as a result of poor Special Teams Play (?!?!?!?!) during Take 2 of the K-State Fiasco-at DKR, no less. I am right now watching my tape of this year's A&M game (obviously I'm a glutton for punishment) to see how the Aggies were able to generate 533 yards of total offense (362 PASSING) on the incomprehensibly incompetent Horn Defense. You OU fans must have a hard time not rolling off the couch seeing such repeatedly marginal performances from a group of athletes that, if they played to their actual potential, would win all their powder puff schedule games by 30-50 points, and at least be competitive with the REAL teams (OU, OSU-Ohio State, not the Cowboys, UCLA, Used to be Nebraska, etc.)
Will Muschamp make a difference? See, I don't know because the Defensive Sickness that has messed up the 'Horn secondary started while Chizik was still in Austin. Mr. Moore really struck a chord with me on the subject of blown coverages. I've never seen more open receivers that when I see a team play the 'Horns. Guys running around simply UNCOVERED. I mean, how does that happen? Is it a conscious decision? "We're not going to cover so and so, so we'll just let _______ (put any name you want in here, Iglesias, Goodson, Nelson, Swift, Bowman, etc.) go free and see what happens..."
One other thing defensively. "Bad Angles" I've seen more ground game plays where some UT DB comes zooming up to support run defense only to overrun the play or get cut back on by a RB who breaks it off for 40+. I just don't get it...How did VINCE make such a difference, on DEFENSE? Is it the TEAM thing? The Chemistry thing? The horns were #2 against the run and in the top 10 against the pass in '05. Chizik was there. What changed in '06? You guys seem astute on the horns as (understandably) critical reviewers of worthy (errr...well... whatever) OU opponents. Any thoughts?

James Moore Jan 31 08

Paul,

To my recall I think that this is the first time I've seen a Longhorn fan on here. I think that Vince madea a team difference as a LEADER. Without question he was the heart and soul of that squad and consequently the players held THEMSELVES accountable for their play. Honestly, and objectively I think that that's the place to see where he made the biggest difference. It just seems since then that there's no leader ON the field or for that matter on the sideline as well. . .

One point I'm sure you'd agree with me on. When Nebraska came down to Austin we blitzed on something like 76 out of 78 plays. With the issues in the secondary that Texas has Keller got hot, receivers got free, and we scored some points to jump out. In the face of our defensive troubles Mack Brown INSISTED on running plays under center and we more or less were able to slow you down. Then what? Lightbulb!!! Let's go to our zone read game and give it a try. Let's make them play their holes and assignments. Result? Jamaal Charles getting 218 yards in the 4th quarter. I'm a lifelong Husker fan obviously, but when Charles was ripping that 4th quarter up I thought that it was a stunning display of neglect or incompetence on the part of Mack Brown. . .

Will Muschamp will help. One of the best coaches in college football. You'll run a lot of zone but look at the units he had at Auburn: fast, aggressive, sound tackling, NEVER any busted assignments, always at home. Take into account that these were undersized units (Texas D-Line is always bigger than Auburn's) and finally throw in the deep pool of athlete's and he should get you guys sorted out quickly. . .

My last thought for you is, who is this backup QB Chiles who looked so good in the Holiday Bowl? He looked GREAT!!! Hadn't even heard this name until the game, and pow!!! Runs the zone/belly read plays with aplomb. Mack has to get him on the field next year. McCoy is the QB but this guy is a playmaker. . .

ranch&longhornlover Jan 31 08

pretty cool website, and very good, non-biased writing as well.

Knowledgeable longhorn fan here, and can't say i disagree with the comments, ou has accomplished a great deal under bob stoops, and so have we, but not quite as much as bob and ou. man, just to think what could have been had ou made a mistake and taken a less quality coach; they have really been our kryptonite this decade...

the positive thing i can say about mack brown is that he seems to make very good, proactive moves to counter bad situations (the turnaround he did in 1998, bringing in tomey and robinson to coach a D that lacked good fundamentals in 2003, letting VY do his thing in 2004...). I really like the hires this offseason, plus his tough-love attitude/everyone is accountable approach twd the team since that awful atm loss. point being - mack is a smart enough man to never let this thing get away from him, like the way it got away from callahan or franchoine, but is he good enough to get back on top w/o a player of VY's caliber?? i sure hope so.

i think he knows bob is his lex luther, and he's doing everything he can to overcome him. he doesnt have a whole lot of time left, they've been going at it now since 1999, and bob certainly has the lead right now (RRS wins, big 12 south and big 12 titles). imo, if ou continues to win big 12 titles at the pace they have been, it wont be too long before it is set in stone that ou is the place to be for college football recruits. thank goodness for VY, otherwise, that may have been undeniable by now.

will be interesting to see how it unfolds over the next few years; tons of talent, exp., and recent success on each team to continue to stay in the top 10. of note, i think bob has some things he needs to work on too (like how to win a bowl game). i am pretty sure these will be the only two teams that matter in the south, unless something drastic happens.

hope the huskers can re-take the north, y'all still have the classiest fans around.

Paul Feb 01 08

James Moore got into the coaching area, which I didn't really explore, but you're right on there too. Mack has skill and insight, but the label "soft" (which even Brett Musburger mentioned during the Holiday Bowl 'Horn-fest) is not too far off the mark.

So it's interesting to see the changes MB made since the A&M game, and the resulting reaction -even from the most pessimistic 'Horn of all, the legendary Kirk Bohls, sports commentator of the AAS- of almost disbelief that Mack is willing to so willingly leave his comfort zone and make significant, meaningful changes in both the practice approach/intensity prior to the H-Bowl and the subsequent staffing changes leading to signing day. On top of all that, we're looking at possibly getting the "Great Scott" who by all accounts should simply walk on the field and cause the other team to forfeit. Will Mack take that approach in the off season and toward next year? I can hear the howls of protest as Players may be injured or tired from hard-core practices. But that's one thing the Aggie game hopefully drove home to UT. A group of REALLY motivated perhaps not as gifted athletes can take a group of poorly motivated elite, top of the heap athletes to the woodshed more often than not...

I don't know how many of you saw Mack during the 2nd Q of the OK State game yelling with a degree of color and intensity he's not known for (Mack? Yelling?) at the -again- pathetic defense for the same old stuff, missed tackles, bad angles, blown coverages. The interesting thing was that on that series the Horn defense STILL let 'em score and nothing really changed. That's probably the moment when Mack thought "Man, I can't even YELL at these guys and get them to play better! I need a new DC!"

The other thing I notice as I endured my previoiusly mentioned rewind of the Aggie fiasco was that, all of a sudden, in the middle of the fourth quarter, the defense actually started to PLAY. If you have a tape, go back and watch the fourth quarter again as the 'Horn defense sacks McGee a couple of times and at least gives the offense a chance (but they couldn't take advantage of it-that's another story).

On the John Chiles issue, yeah John is pretty cool and can run the ZR well. The big problem at least this last season is EVERYONE knows HE'S NOT GONNA PASS!!!

Well, good luck Husker fans. I know ya'll are gonna be back eventually. Yeah, the '95 team was something, wasn't it? It would be a great fantasy game to pit '95 Husker against '05 UT. Ok, perhaps '71 Husker, but things were different then...