GD and Mack have a long history together. GD replaced Mack as head coach at Tulane. After Tulane canned GD, he became Mack's OC at UNC. When GD was not offered the HC position at UNC, he once again followed Mack to UT. Mack is running the program. He will not fire GD. He will not even consider it. He will also not consider benching Simms. The only way to get rid of GD is through pressure and losses. Everyone loves Mack so Dodds is probably afraid to give him an ultimatum such as get rid of GD or you are next. If we go 10-1, GD is staying no matter what happens in the bowl game. Embarrassing losses, chants of overrated by opponents, and the media calling us heartless is all we need to get rid of GD. One more thing about next year, we play 12 games. We would need to go 14-0 (maybe 13-1) to win the national championship. We play @ Nebraska, @ Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, and @ North Carolina. Plus we would face either Neb or K State in the Big XII Championship game in Kansas City (?). We need to play for now. The road gets tougher.
haven, you're right about the run not winning games by itself. that's not what I'm advocating. if I've given that impression, I have miscommunicated. what I'm talking about is being serious about being able to run the ball and not just paying it lip service. I read a rocky calmus quote this week where he basically said "our goal every week is to shut down the run, make the team one dimensional, and then shut down the pass." and that's exactly what ou did. the change I want to see is for UT to not care whether they win by the run or the pass. right now, I think that davis is being too bullheaded about winning via the pass. he only wants to run just enough to set up the pass. and that's not cutting it. shanna, I think we'll find out in due time about davis. I think your assertion about applewhite is based, at least in part, on your belief that simms is capable of losing to colorado. again, I just can't go that step with you. so far, I haven't seen simms lose a game that I thought we should have or would have won with applewhite. if we do, I may come over to the applewhite side. already, a lot the points made in this thread have caused me to look at the whole situation in ways I hadn't before. but I still approve of simms starting. as far as an earlier point that was made concerning simms qb iq, I don't think it's a deal where simms isn't smart. I think it's just a deal that applewhite may be the smartest college qb I've ever seen. as far as that comparison is concerned, I'd give the nod to applewhite no question. but I think simms is the better athlete. and I think the UT coaches are betting that simms stands a better chance at growing his mind than applewhite stands to grow his athleticism. anyway, clearly nobody's going to convince the others. you guys want applewhite to start. I want simms to succeed. but more than that, I want a coordinator who won't lose games for us. and if nothing else, it seems that we all seem to want the same thing: a UT national title. and that has been a pleasant surprise to run into here on the rocket board the last two days. cheers to all Horns fans!
that's disheartening, smokey. I think mack brown should get to stay, no matter what, on the basis of his recruiting alone. he would not be the first head "coach" to make his living on recruiting and not on coaching. I'm sad to think that he would never replace davis because I think mack brown is one offensive coordinator away from being bobby bowden. I don't think b. bowden is that great a game coach, but he has coordinators to handle that. his job is to go into that living room and get the great h.s. baller to come to his school, and he does it as well as anyone ever has. I have no beef with carl reese. I think he does his job very well. if only brown would kiss davis goodbye. . .
Why is it that Simms is always absolved? I understand Davis is a crappy play-caller, however, in the plays that he does call, Simms never executes. If Simms is such a great QB, shouldn't he be able to at least to HIS job? Such as not forcing balls into double coverage.
<B>so far, I haven't seen simms lose a game that I thought we should have or would have won with applewhite.</B> I can understand that. I look at it the same way from the flipside -- I don't think Simms has won or can win a game that Applewhite wouldn't have. Unless Simms can be better than Applewhite, I think Applewhite should be starting due to the experience / instincts / history factor. Basically, its just two sides of the same coin.
chievous, I was pretty hard on Applewhite when Simms first came to UT. I wanted to play for now. Applewhite had shown us everything he could do in 98 and 99, and I felt it was time let Simms play in 00. I questioned Mack's QB rotation because I felt the only way for Simms to get better was for him to play. The better athlete gives us a better chance to win. For whatever reason, Simms has not taken off like Applewhite. IMO he has been given enough playing time to prove himself. Except for a few brief moments, Simms has not looked better than Applewhite. You can't teach athleticism, but you can't also teach QB smarts. Unfortunately, a lot of pressure has been placed on Simms because of his name, high school stats, and by playing at UT. Maybe I am drawing a false conclusion but IMO it appears that it may be the system that is holding Simms back. He may go on to have a great pro career, but at Texas he has been nothing special. Maybe Simms is not the best QB for Texas. The system is not going to change. Simms has not adapted to it. Applewhite has. Simms has not been a better QB at Texas than Applewhite. Therefore, I feel it is time to bring back Major. The job should not be handed to Simms next year because of his senior status just like the job should not be handed to Applewhite because of his senior status this year. It's what you do on the field that counts. I'm not saying we would have won yesterday with Applewhite, but he would put us in the best position to win. Simms did not see Roy Williams coming on his 3rd int, however there were many plays where Simms missed open receivers and instead forced the ball to covered receivers resulting in interceptions. I don't think Applewhite would have made those throws. The best QB on the roster is not playing. And why? If Mack is afraid of benching of 5 star QB because of what could happen then he shouldn't be coaching at this level. We have two young stud QB's behind Simms and Applewhite. Hopefully Mack sees something in Simms that we can't. What has Simms done to make you think he will start to succeed? He showed flashes vs. A&M and UO, but that's nothing Applewhite couldn't do.
smokey -- I don't know that I can say what I've seen from simms that makes me believe in him. the unfortunate truth may be that I just want to believe in him enough to look past his flaws. on the other hand, I haven't really seen enough to think he shouldn't be starting, either. I guess the way simms had, before yesterday, significantly reduced his interceptions would be one thing that makes me think he will eventually succeed. but [and I know I sound like a broken record here] I don't believe either of these quarterbacks will be able to "succeed" [meaning win the big games against good teams and win the bcs title] in this offense with this coordinator. I go back to the point I made to shanna: I haven't seen simms lose a game that I thought we should have or could have won. you make an interesting point about simms and the system, that the system isn't going to change, so maybe simms isn't the guy. but I don't think there is "a guy" for this system. if there is, his name might be cedric benson if you catch my meaning. [if you don't, I'm not saying that cb should run at qb, I'm saying that the offense needs to run more {for the 100th time}]. here's an interesting question: at this point, now that the shot at the bcs title is pretty much gone, how bitter do you think applewhite would be to be given the starting job now that it's too late? does anyone think he would be bitter? do you think he'd feel like it was too little, too late? I have no idea; I just think it's an interesting question. the unfortunate truth that we all have to live with is that we lost yesterday, and our shot at the bcs title is pretty much gone. whether it's davis' fault, simms' fault, browns' fault, sneezy beltran's fault, all the talk in the world isn't going to change our situation this year. I wonder if brown has ever regretted recruiting simms considering all the crap it's meant to the program. who knows? I often wonder if Texas will ever be able to get past its own hype. simms may go down as the sacrificial lamb of these past few years of extraordinary recruiting and extraordinary hype. I wonder if Texas won't be better off in a few years, when simms and applewhite are both gone, and the quarterback is chance mock or matt nordgren, someone who doesn't have all the weight of who is dad is or how he got or lost the job weighing him and the program down. . .
I'll call it as I see it. Simms did not play a very good game at all. I was there, quite a game. Both defenses were awesome. I didn't likethe playcalling, but Simms made his share of mistakes. I don't know if Major would have won us the game. If Major is better, play him. I don't think it's good to yank Simms over one bad game though. I don't know. I'm sure you Simms haters are loving this moment, but I just want to win.
I want to win also, but I'm a realist. We can't spin this loss to make ourselves feel better. We played a complete game against Tech last week. I thought we were making progress in playcalling and execution. I thought we were "saving the playbook." Then we play a big game against a big time defense. We forget everything we learned. It's almost cyclic. chievous, I agree, if we don't run we don't win. A sustained rushing game would have taken pressure off Simms. We all know Simms loses his confidence very quickly and tries to make plays when they are not there. I expect to see lots of Benson this Saturday - a little too late. Losing to a # 3 and dropping out of the top 10 was surprising. With a victory over A&M, CU should be a top 25 team coming into Austin. CU will probably be the only top 25 team we meet until the bowl game. That shoots down any hope of a BCS bid. The Aggies will drop out of the top 25 after losing to CU and K-State before meeting us on T+1. National championship talk might have been too much for a team that hasn't finished in the top 10 since 1983. Redemption will come in the bowl game. If Applewhite was bitter, he wouldn't suit up for every game. He's just waiting to be given the opportunity to start again. Brown had no problem yanking Simms after the OU loss last year. It probably isn't the best thing to do right now with Simms psyche. If Simms continues to turn the ball over, Brown should not hesitate to put in Applewhite. I don't think Brown regrets recruiting Simms. Brown has given Simms every opportunity to succeed. Like I said, for whatever reason, Simms hasn't solidified his starting job. It's unfortunate that he never got to be himself. Where ever he played, he would have been compared to his dad. Many people thought we would be witnessing another Archie Manning/Peyton Manning. The media attention is great for the program however the negative stuff is something Brown would like to do without. Someone said we have better talent than any team we play, however we are not the better team. Until we put everything together, we will be considered overrated.
I stopped reading after that. If you really think that 3 of the 4 interceptions that were extremely underthrown (not including the badly underthrown ball to Williams that Woodfolk batted down) were not his fault, then you're an idiot.
Interesting postgame quote: "They have a good secondary. They did a good job running us today. <B>We were open</B>; we were in the places that we needed to be. <B>We just didn’t execute some of the plays</B>. " - Roy Williams (Texas)
Shanna, you're not openly gloating are you? The wr's had a couple of drops also, but I think they should tell Simms to throw a little softer. If I were Roy, Iwouldn't be calling out anyone in the media. His play has also been less than desirable.
<B>Shanna, you're not openly gloating are you? </B> No. Unfortunately, there's no real-world evidence that Major would have done better. And since Brown won't start Major, there never will be (probably a part of the reason he won't do so, in my opinion). Now, if Simms sucks against Colorado and is replaced by Major who kicks ass in the 2nd half, THEN I will come back here and gloat. Until then, I'm just going with what I think Major could do vs. what Simms has done. <B>If I were Roy, Iwouldn't be calling out anyone in the media. His play has also been less than desirable.</B> Agreed. The receivers haven't been quite as spectacular as last year.
I hope that isn't the reason. In Mack's position, I think he has to play anyone that will help us win. I think he made his choice earlier, but to pull Simms while he's struggling would just turn an uneasy situation into a catastrophe. I don't care who plays, I just want to win. I chalk up Simms' performance against OU as one of those games. Kind of like Major vs. KSU or against ARk. in the cotton bowl. Players have bad days and Simms has alot of pressure on him. Jeff Bagwell goes 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts occasionally, and this is basically what Simms did last week. Simms was near perfect against Tech, and I really hope he returns to form. Give OU credit though. I know you're kidding, but some Major fans were b****ing about Chris when he completed a pass. It really has turned personal for some folks. I feel sorry for Major and Chris.
<B>I hope that isn't the reason. In Mack's position, I think he has to play anyone that will help us win. I think he made his choice earlier, but to pull Simms while he's struggling would just turn an uneasy situation into a catastrophe. </B> I don't think it's the main reason, but I do think it would play a part of any decision to play or not play Major. I agree that it shouldn't, but Mack Brown is a <I>very</I> media-conscious & media-savvy coach. I think he learned from Mackovic's failures that you have to be in order to survive at Texas. Playing Major opens up the possibility that he's successful and that the original decision is criticized and put under the microscope. All the discussions we're having here get played out in the national and local media, and the coaches and players are suddenly getting questioned from all directions. Basically, even if the coaches determine he's the best QB, I don't think he starts because it creates a QB controversy. <B>I know you're kidding, but some Major fans were b****ing about Chris when he completed a pass. It really has turned personal for some folks. I feel sorry for Major and Chris.</B> Yeah, the two QB's are not at fault here -- they are both doing and saying the right things. They are doing their best. Any criticisms dealing with playing time (for any player) should be directed at the coaches, in my opinion.
Chris Simms = Jeff George Full of talent. Have great practices, but when you put in defenders it confuses the hell out of them.
supermac, the difference there is that Simms is still young and he seems like a team player. George is a basket case. I remember Michigan had an issue like this with Brady/Henson and UF had it last year with Grossman/Berlin. Actually, UF has had this thing going on for awhile. The worst thing Mack can do is rotate QB's though. Only Spurrier can get away with that. About Benson, I think they thought the magnitude of the game would overwhelm him, I disagree. I think he could have helped the team immensely. Allegedly he can't pick up the blitz, but neither can Simms, lol. So many variables went into this game. A very winnable one, I believe.
I don't even think spurrier can get away with rotating qbs. how many titles has he won? one? I can't remember. but if he's won even one, then it was the year that wuerffel was his guy, and there was no rotating. as far as benson is concerned, I think it's a shame he wasn't allowed to play. I just think that conveys such a cowardly message, the same kind of message it sends when you run wide receiver screens in order to get your qb's confidence up and the same kind of message it sends to your team when you walk barry bonds. it sends the message: we're afraid you can't handle the tough stuff. look at bob stoops. he never sends that message. he tells his guys, "I'm going to throw you into the fire, and you're going to be able to handle it." benson could've helped on saturday. we needed somebody quicker and shiftier than Ivan. plus, Ivan was running more tentative on saturday than I've ever seen. if nothing else, you needed to get benson the big-game experience everyone's always talking about. as it is, when he plays next season, he'll be overwhelmed for the first time with all the pomp because he didn't get a taste of it this year. brown's pissing me off with his post-game quotes. "we were this close. . ." no we weren't. I don't care what yard-line we got to on saturday. we were never close to scoring a touchdown against ou. because we didn't RUN THE DAMN BALL!
It hurts me to say this, but if OU and UT traded coaching staffs, who wins this game? I get the feeling UT would have come on top. BTW, a key play eraly on was the blocked FG. Would have been an entirely different game if that hadn't happened. I don't think there is a talent gap between UT and OU at all.
