Anyone who remembers Chris Simms as losing this football game isn't worth dealing with anyway. If anyone, and I mean anyone, thinks at any point in the next four years that that interception was Chris' fault, or that it cost us the game, then they are the biggest ****ing moron in the history of mankind, and I could care less what they think. Simms will be a first round pick, that I will bet on. Once scouts review the tapes and find out most of these INT's weren't his fault and *gasp* someone else on UT has a flaw, his stock will rise. His decisions have been fine, outside of one game (CU). He's just had some bad luck go his way in the others, but I'm confident in scouts' ability to fnd that out after watching the game tape. If Vincent Young beats OU, it will be because he has a new offensive coordinator.
Did you even read this week's Sports Illustrated? There's a blurb about Chris Simms' draft status. He's projected anywhere from the first round to the 4th round. Many scouts are wary of him, and the consensus is that Carson Palmer, Dave Ragone, and Byron Leftwich are the top QB prospects for the draft. (Since this is a TT thread, no mention of Kingsbury, either...)
No, I didn't, because I don't care. The reason they're "wary" is because every ****ing time UT loses, the fans give off this perception that it is all because of Simms and nothing else. Because of that, when they review the tape, they are looking for/expecting Simms to do something wrong. Once Simms goes into the combines and interviews and looks like a complete stud, it will make a lot of them think twice. Once their mindset begins to shift, they'll rewatch the tapes, and think "you know, this wasn't really his fault...", etc., etc. Dave Ragone is not a good prospect. Also, I remember Carson Palmer had every bit as much hype coming out of high school as Chris Simms, and he hasn't accomplished a damn thing more. He's won less games, no conference titles, no top 10 finishes, etc. In fact, his numbers were pretty mediocre until this year, when he capitilized on a Pac 10 with no defense. The only reason Chris Simms isn't thought of right with Carson Palmer (and he will be by draft time, I guarantee it), is that Palmer doesn't have to face a defense like Oklahoma's every year. Furthermore, because his team has been so mediocre, he doesn't really have a "big game" that you can say he played in.
Simms has played very well since OU and has turned into a good college QB, but Cat I think you are overboard. Kingsbury was a better QB than him Saturday, no question. Simms missed a couple of wide open guys for TDs in the first half, and the last throw was a poor read. But overall I think Simms played an excellent game against a crappy defense--a game the offense and Simms should have done enough to win. The defense and Reese deserves the blame, squarely, for this one. Simms and the O almost bailed them out, but almost only counts in horseshoes. Personally, I would be immensly surprised if Simms went before the 3rd round. Doesn't have a knack for avoiding the rush nor a great field mind--not a great combination, I don't like his chances for being successful against more complicated, faster, more reactive, more confusing, NFL defenses.
Kingsbury had a great game? Perhaps, but that's easy when your O-line absolutely manhandles the other team. To be honest, I have no idea how good a qb Kingsbury is. I've never seen a Texas D-line dominated that badly since the 99 K-State game. That was an embarrassment. Redding should drop a round for how poorly he performed. The game was won in the trenches. I'd never have predicted that, given the comparative athletic ability of both sides involved. I think Texas should hire away Tech's O-line coach. That was just a phenomenal display. Texas had pressure on Kingsbury something like 3 times all game... even with frequent blitzes. It's not often that Carl Reese gets outcoached... but it happened that time. Incidentally, has anyone noticed just how bad Chris Simms is with blitzes? When Texas gets blitzed, you can almost plan on Simms messing up. When teams blitz great QBs, they get burned. When you blitz Simms, you get sacks, INTs, and incompletions. What's bizarre, his how accurate he is most of the time. He's got a powerful, precise arm... but his ability to pick up blitzes is horrendous.
Huh? If I'm an NFL team owner, and my scouts are listening to fans instead of doing independent research on potential draftees, those scouts are fired, no questions asked. Likewise, if my scouts are biased and only looking for negatives (right, because they ALL hate UT ), I don't want them as my scouts. The purpose of their job is to give unbiased talent evaluations for their respective employer. If they slip up, there will be hell to pay. Do you think the San Diego scouts still had their job after the Ryan Leaf fiasco? And again, I direct you to the Ryan Leaf story. Granted, Simms is miles and miles ahead of Leaf in every aspect, but interviews are just that... interviews. Let's see how Simms scores on the Wonderlic test. Scouts will scrutinize game tapes with a fine comb, anyway. In fact, I'm sure they already have to date. Ragone NOT A GOOD PROSPECT?!? He beat Florida State SINGLE-HANDEDLY in the RAIN! With a crappy Louisville team! He IS the team there! As for Palmer, yes, he was highly touted. Yes, he hasn't quite lived up to the lofty expectations pressed on him. HOWEVER, he is having a better year than Simms. USC is now higher ranked than Texas, thanks to Palmer. And Palmer has half the weapons Simms has. BTW, all three QBs are semi-finalists for the Davey O'Brien award. This isn't a "Simms-vs-other-QBs" debate. My original point was that it's VERY hard to argue in Simms' favor when the deck is severely stacked against him (mostly his doing there, too). UT fans have shown a clear disdain for him, and nothing you can say will help. Likewise, it seems that nothing anyone else tells you will change your perception and opinion as well. Nothing wrong with that at all. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. You're just on the other side of popular opinion with this one. Keep up the good fight, Cat, but don't go overboard. The "halo effect" works both ways...
Kliff had a great game because he didn't have to hold the ball long. Granted the O-line played well, but he has a quick release and they ran a ton of those underneath, dink passes that got the ball out of his hands quickly. It's tough to pressure the QB when he's taking short drops and throwing the ball. Simms on the other hand holds the ball forever sometimes and then decides to wind up and try to throw it through people or take a sack when he tries to move and trips over his own feet. Also, clearly the pic was not solely his fault, but to say he has no blame is ridiculous too. Benson was running unchecked underneath and he threw into double coverage. I'm sorry, but that is poor decision making and it seems that when the pressure is up that is more the norm for Chris than the exception.
Sorry, there was a linebacker right behind Benson. It may have been open, but it's about a four yard gain, max. The only reason it looked like double coverage is that BJ got knocked off the route. BJ had his man beaten, and Chris was throwing the ball about 5 yards in front of the safety to be safe and NOT risk the INT. It was a good play, and a good pass, but the beaten DB just made a great effort to keep BJ from making the turn, and the safety made a diving catch. I know how much you people love to put the blame to someone, but you absolutely cannot on that play. It was simply a great defensive play. Vescey, I seriously, seriously doubt the scouts from NFL teams have gone through Simms' games with a fine comb. Because if/when they do, I have virtually no doubts that he will be a top 10 selection. Even the Texans, an expansion franchise with no team in 2001, didn't start intensely following David Carr until late December, and even that was regarded as very early. They went to a couple of his games during the season, but from what I read in the Chronicle, it was around late December when the staff started loading up on game footage and watching him repeatedly. Ragone threw for 191 yards against Florida State. Palmer's having a statistically better year, because he's playing statistically worse defenses. Also, he actually has a running game and an offensive line, something that Texas has lacked in most games.
In the back of the latest issue, I believe, where they talk about individual sports. Either under "College Football" or "NFL." Can't find the article online, though.
So take the 4 yard completion to Benson. The fact remains that the safety was sitting on that route and it was not a good place to throw the ball. I said it wasn't solely Simms' fault, but some of it is on him. If the receiver (was it B.J.?) doesn't get knocked off he may make the play, but the safety still would have been right there to break on the ball like he did and possibly still make a play on it too. Simms is neither the worst QB in the country nor the best. I don't undertsand why everyone in Texas thinks he has to be either one or the other...
But why take the 4 yard completion when you have a good chance of picking up 25? The safety was well behind the play. If BJ makes his cut, the best he can do is pop BJ from behind, and hope it makes BJ drop the ball. He had no chance of making a play on the ball. It wasn't a bad playcall, IMO... nor a bad route, nor a bad pass. Everything was setting up great, the Tech DB just made a great play. Congrats to him.
you can never argue with a crazy mind folks and I am sorry cat but chris simms sucks... that was proved on the field and take your sour grapes / know it all attitude and at least fight something you can back up with some inkling of a fact.. simms lost the game and i believe he threw an INT when it counted as usual.. next
That is BS. Simms is probably a better college QB than 85% of DIV 1A QBs. But that is far below expectations--that realy isn;t his fault. Personally I think the pro game will be way to fast and confusing for him but that is me.
Exactly, he's about 18th in the college level. Sounds about right. When he busts like hell people will remember.
You want a fact, jackass? Here's a fact. Learn the ****ing game of football. That was a timing route. Simms was to throw the ball to a spot, not to a receiver. BJ Johnson ran the right route, the Tech DB just prevented him from turning to the ball. You can't blame Simms for not seeing BJ knocked off his route because in order for that play to work, you MUST release the ball before the receiver makes his cut. Simms threw for 350 yards and 4 touchdowns. The "top 5" defense gave up 42 points. Now who the hell is to blame, genius. Also, NYK has I beleve seen three or four games at the most from Chris Simms in his career, so feel free to disregard that.
actually, scouts don't really concern themselves much with results in college. there are so many factors that may or may not have contributed to those results that they have to all be taken with a grain of salt. simms has the size and arm strength scouts love, and they won't dismiss his bloodline, either, so he'll be considered a top prospect heading into the combines. if he scores well there, he'll be a first round pick, regardless of how many times he lost to oklahoma. just ask peyton manning, who still can't beat a team from tennessee.
Last I checked, it wasn't Chris that let the Tech defense drop 42 points on us. Instead it was Chris throwing the ball all over the field for like 350 yards, and 3 TDs. Maybe you should just stick to basketball, because it doesn't seem like you know much about football. Simms has improved tremendously in his four years here, and he'll take it to the next level in the NFL. The Ryan Leaf comparisons are way off base. Leaf is a head case, while Simms is a good kid who couldn't live up to the ridiculous expectations placed on him. He might not have won alot of big games at UT, but his talent will not be wasted in the NFL. Under the tutelage of a good OC like Kubiak in Denver, this guy will kick ass.
Can I ask the Red Raider fans here a question (since nobody responded to my post!)? Is your O-line always that good? Or did UT just play horrifically? There were some injuries to the D-line... but, man, that was impressive. After all those top recruiting classes, you'd think they could manage a little penetration. If they'd gotten any pressure at all on Kingsbury, outcome might have been different. But if UT'd blitzed 8 guys every play, I'm sure not sure they'd have gotten through.
