This is obscene. The game's 11 months away. But here's my take anyways... Oklahoma Will feel the loss of Nate Hybl and Quentin Griffin. Their defense, which returns all three superstar LB's: Pasha Jackson, Lance Mitchell, and Teddy "Flash" Lehman" will carry them through the first half of the year. Everage, Strait, and Bassey all return at DB, while Antonio Perkins shouldn't have any problems' filling future NFL 1st rounder Andre Woolfolk's shoes. Wilkerson, Dvoracek, and McGruder all anchor the D-line. There are some big losses on offense such as Griffin, Hybl, and Trent Smith. JJ Moses should step in for Trent Smith, and I've always thought that Kejuan Jones is more talented than Q. The QB's job will be basically to not turn the ball over. Whether they go with Rawls or Paul Thompson, it shouldn't matter. As long as the QB can keep the clock moving, and keep the defense fresh, they'll be fine. Texas The Horns lose three of their best defensive players in DT Marcus Tubbs, DE Cory Redding, and CB Rob Babers. However, Mack has recruiting this team deep. Superstud Larry Dibbles will eventually take over for Tubbs at DT. Bryan Pickryl will get big enough to handle full time responsibility for Redding, and speedster Edorian McCullough replaces Babers. Vasher and Thornton return, along with Dakarai Pearson and Michael Huff. This defense will miss Redding, though. The offense will be seriously hurt by the loss of Simms. Chance Mock's been in the system 3 years already, so he'll most likely start. However, if he's ineffective, then expect Matt Nordgren or Vincent Young. The job's wide open. However, I like Young against OU, simply because they have so much trouble with running QBs. The O-line loses future NFLers in Robbie Doane and Derrick Dockery. Mike Garcia and William Winston should be ready though. Still, I think Stoops will continue to have Mack's number, and OU will take a 4th win in a row. Texas' best chance to win was this year.
Tommy Harris is the most over rated D lineman in the country! Not only according to stas, according to watching them play. He has put up better numbers in fewer games with MANY less snaps.
He still growled at me the other day. RM95's Girl and I were staying in the same hotel in Waco that the OU was in. As we walked into our room, I yelled OU sucks at some voices I heard down the hall. She saw who they were and told me they were very big. We walked out about three minutes later and there was Tommie Harris standing right in front of me kinda hunched over and growling. I said, "I'm not a Baylor fan" and walked off.
That was not growling. You have to understand Tommie is a communications major, that is the OU education rearing its head!
I've never been a huge fan of stats, especially from a position like DT, where players are asked to do different things, than another player at DT.
I played against Chance Mock in high school and I'll say that he was surrounded by a huge O-line when he was at the Woodlands so he could do pretty much whatever he wanted. He's more mobile than Chris Simms but he not gonna amaze you with his running ability. At least I wasnt amazed by it, but he can throw one deep.
I think Tommie Harris is a big reason why Lehman and Mitchell get all the tackles they do. For what it is worth I saw him doubled far more often than Redding doubled.
Anyone thinking our best chance was this year needs to get real... Two teams have moved the ball consistently on OU this season: Missouri and A&M. Notice the common thread between them? Mobile quarterbacks. This year, we had the exact opposite. Chris has been good for us, but it's not just him... any pocket quarterback is in trouble against OU. (see Chris Weinke, Heisman winner 2000) We had the talent this year, but it just wasn't a great matchup. Quarterback is the most important position on the field, and while I think we'll have a downgrade for most of the season, I think it'll be a big upgrade for the OU game. It's a matter of matchups, and if this team has a mobile quarterback that can get out of the pocket and make plays on the ground, this team's chances are substantially increased.
Aren't you the one who said at the beginning of this year that Last year doesn't matter, it's a new season, 2 different teams? Well then why would Missouri and A&M moving the ball on OU THIS YEAR have any effect on NEXT YEAR?
I don't think UT fans should predict a victory over OU for next year, if that is what The Cat is trying to do.
This post by horndfl on hornfans.com may be the best take I've ever read. He's on the money with each of his points: 1) We are certain to be 11-2. Many posters are referencing this record as though it's a gimme, like the Tech game. If we match up against a talented team with solid coaching for our bowl game, we stand a very solid chance of getting outcoached and losing it. 2) A tweak here or there in our running game and our defense and we are fine. We have systemic issues in regard to our running game that have been hashed and rehashed by people on this board so many times that it makes my head hurt. If you think that talent is an issue, or that our OL problems are something that have recently surfaced, I recommend clicking on a thread or two that has the potential to discuss it when you see them. Or buy a book about it. Talk to a coaching friend of yours about it. Watch a game from this year, last year, 2000, and 1999. You'll see the same **** creeping up each time. This is not new and "readjusting our scheme and techniques" is not going to solve it. We have massive paradigm and coaching execution problems on the OL and thinking otherwise, or wishing otherwise, is foolhardy. We have a Defensive Coordinator who is currently scheming to scheme and it's been that way for a while. We have been knifed up by virtually every good defense that we've played in the last 5 years. Exceptions are KSU this year, UNL1in 1999, CU1 in 2001, and 1 other I'm sure I'm forgetting that the sunshine pumpers will surely recall. Teams such as UNL 2002, Arkansas, Oregon, UW, Tech, OU 2000 & 2002, and others have made us look flat out goofy. Again, we have systemic problems on this side of the ball against well-coached, semi-talented to talented offenses. Beating the **** out of UNC and UH is not something that screams dominance. 3) We are young. We start plenty of 3rd and 4th year guys on this team. Many other teams start less. We are youthful, but we are not young to a fault. 4) If we continue posting complaints about the coaching failures we've witnessed to date, Mack Brown will quit and we'll be forced to hire John Mackovic, David McWilliams, or one of their brothers in the aftermath. Win big at Texas and you are a god. It comes with intense pressure, but you get paid as well as anywhere in the country, you're given a blank check on assistant salaries, and you'll be coaching in the biggest talent-rich state in the country. With proper focus, we can make another hire that can win here, and win big. Brown was a great hire for us. I will die believing that. He turned the program around and has mobilized the fanbase. He has, nonetheless, failed to accomplish a lot of what should be expected of a coach at a school with such competitive advantages as UT, who also happens to be making $1.5+/year. No BCS games. No titles. Finding someone to accept the challenge of coming here would not be a tough task. Keeping Dodds out of the decision would likely be the toughest piece. Coaches, like all leaders, are egotistical and would jump at the challenge. 5) This is just like what happened with Bowden and Osborne. Mack will turn the corner and follow in their footsteps. Brown has been a Head Coach for 19 years. He has never won a title of any kind and has shown a propensity for serious breakdowns in big games that have kept himself and his teams from getting a whiff at the brass ring. Bowden and Osborne at this time had won conference titles and were in the process of creating monsters. Osborne had the luxury of taking prop-48 kids that boosted his school's odds. Bowden was building something phenomenal from the ground up and had nothing when he came in. UT has nothing from a player perspective that is going to make the program any more elite. We have NFL players at every position, virtually. The problem is not on the field. And there's no silver bullet recruiting class out there that's going to wave a wand and get us over the hump. 4 of those classes are already on campus and playing. 6) No one will be able to bring in the talent that Mack Brown has. Leave him alone. A good coach will bring in outstanding talent to this program. Even bad ones have done so. This myth is probably the most nauseating of them all. The reality is that there is no quick fix without an overhaul of some sort. Without an overhaul, we're Ohio State under John Cooper. We may even be that if Brown does retool, as he may be the issue in getting us over the hump. Yes we'll win 9 games, roughly, per year. Yes we'll finish in the top 10 with some frequency. What we won't do is beat OU anytime soon. What we won't do is get over the hump without an extreme series of fortunate circumstances. We will be caught in Top Tier Mediocrity, which does exist. That may be fine to many of you. To me, it's not. It's that simple. I do not find it unreasonable to expect championships in football at this school. The resources are there. The fanbase's desire is there. The talent is there. The problem IS the coaching. We need a spectrum swing by this staff on a grandscale level or we are not going to be able to be considered an elite program. We are going to continue to have the "underachiever" label attached to us. You guys will continue to rant about Trev Alberts and his ilk for their takes on us in regard to "heart" or whatever other tags they slap on our backs. The most insidious piece to that probability is that it is now true. This team has officially underachieved this season. A case can be made that they did last year as well. I know they did in 2000. "Underachieving" is a pretty easy notion to sell to a recruit if you're beating us and going to BCS games. The talent at UT is among the elite in the country right now. Thinking that it will stay this way under Brown without a transition of some sort is tilting at windmills. Especially if ATM joins the fray and hires a big name, which is currently the buzz. Don't be myopic. Pull your heads out of the Akers/McWilliams/Mackovic induced haze. This program can and should be elite. All but one piece is in place. Pump away.
I thought this year was the best year. Senior QB, the Big three are juniors, Cedric was supposed to get better. More PT for DJ. The talent will be there for the next few years, but this team does get a bit younger next year at the most important position quarterback. Baqui, when dfl speaks, I listen. There are some coaches on that board who've pointed out the same flaws after blowout wins and I refused to believe. I had the "yeah. we're so bad. Ask Houston if we're bad." Rushing for 27 yards against UNT should have opened my eyes. If you can't run the ball, you can't win. BTW, Tech outrushed UT last week.
That horndfl post was great. I be interested to hear if Major or RM95 have disagreements. At some point either you say all the assistant coordinators are the problem or it is the head honcho. I personally would like Mack to stay, but also have him bring in some fresh minds to run things, focus on recruiting, and otherwise stay out of the way on game day.
