Chris Simms' defining moment

You miss the fact that several key plays were called, the receiver was way open, and Simms could not deliver the ball. Most were short.

Maybe the play calling wasn't perfect, maybe Simms shouldn't be benched (you're probably right on that point), but watch a tape of the game if you have to. This game was too close to recover from 5 ****ty passes to wide open receivers.

 

Bring back Major!!!

 

Uh, the defense gave up 63 points, NOT MAJOR!

Besides, what does last year's game have to do with this year's? If you're going to base personnel decisions on last year's game, then why even bring a defense onto the field?

 

I can't disagree with y'all's assertion that simms made some bad passes yesterday [specifically the underthrown balls that were intercepted; the 1st and 2nd interceptions]. I actually thought his worst thrown pass was not on an interception but on the b.j. johnson streak route across the middle when he threw it woefully behind johnson. that could have been a big gainer.

my essential points are these:

1) it's just too easy to say "major would have done this. . ." or "major would have done that. . ." that is simply grass-is-greener thinking. when major did play last year, he wasn't all that spectacular. he certainly didn't perform against ou last year. in fairness, neither did anyone else. I don't have Cat's gift for stats, but I do know that when he played last year, major wasn't anymore consistent or impressive than simms was. and he certainly never had anything like the game simms did against a&m.

2) it's wrong to blame simms for yesterday. blaming simms misses the point entirely. GREG DAVIS IS THE REASON WE LOST YESTERDAY and not simms. probably the most interesting point made by anyone on the pro-major side was shanna's about how major could and usually did audible out of whatever stupid play davis would call. I actually turned to my friend yesterday, and in all seriousness, said "I wish we would make major applewhite the offensive coordinator". I think it is way more realistic to think that, with a better offensive coordinator and gameplan [that was serious about running and not just pretending to care about the run; I mean come on, how can any coordinator with that offensive line and the backs that we have look anyone in the eye and say "we just didn't have the personnel to run on ou"; wrong, we didn't have the will to run on ou. . . but I digress], we could've won that game yesterday. I think that's more realistic to think than to say that, if chris simms makes 5 passes better out of 40-something, we win the game. sorry that was a confusing sentence. and concerning davis being the coordinator when major had his success. . . this is probably because major audibled out of it, but I don't remember us ever throwing that brainless wide receiver screen when major was at the helm. is that because davis was a different coordinator then, or because major audibled out of it? I don't know. but I wish major was our coordinator.

3) the Horns have got to commit to running the damn ball. does anyone else agree with me that it was a sin for cedric benson not to even see the field yesterday? that was so cowardly on brown and davis' parts. benson got exactly squat experience in a big game yesterday. he couldn't have been any worse than big ivan, who I thought ran entirely differently than he's run all year, very tentative and [here it comes again] scared .

okay, that didn't come out as succinctly as I'd hoped so I'm going to re-highlight, hoping for brevity. these are my 3 points, and if you don't disagree with these 3 points, then we don't really disagree:

1) as hakeem once said, "you can do anything with the word 'if'". if major. . . if chris. . . we can never know if major would've been any better, therefore it doesn't do any good to blame chris for the loss assuming that major would've done better.

2) greg davis. greg davis. greg davis.

3) the Horns [read: greg davis] are cowards for not having the will to run the ball. this also plays into the whole simms debate because I think everyone would agree that any quarterback will look a thousand times better when he doesn't have to carry the entire weight of the offense on his shoulders and when there is a running game to lift that weight.

in summary. . .

The most direct path to the Longhorns winning a national championship is the one that includes replacing greg davis with a new offensive coordinator. sorry, greg. I'm sure you're a nice guy, but you can't gameplan or call a game for s-hit.

 

The problem here (in my opinion) is that Simms can't be classified as young anymore. Major never had this problem, and he started as a RS freshman. Simms has only one more year here -- if he can't perform after 10+ starts, is there any reason to think he will next year?

we disagree here. even after 10 starts, I still think simms is a young qb. and I think he's made younger by all the youth around him. all of his receivers, every tight end except for one and all of his rbs except for one are younger than him. I think that's an important difference from the situation major was working with in his first full year starting. until major got hurt last year, I don't think you can even count any of those games as simms starts. it's not a quality start or a quality game if you spend the whole game worrying about when you're going to get benched. I think major would agree with that. also, given the year he's had up to yesterday, clearly simms has improved his interceptions problem. yesterday was a return to bad habits, but it's understandable in a big game when you're trying desperately to overcome crappy play-calling to win a game. which brings me to. . .

I can understand the b****ing about Greg Davis -- he needs to go, and he's needed to go for a while. Any one of us could call a better game plan than him. Even a five year old could pick better plays by randomly pointing to plays on the playbook, but Major did it under this messed up system while Chris hasn't. Today, calling Hail Mary on every single play would probably have scored us more points than we got.

One thing that's interesting is that Major always got a package of 4 or 5 plays that he could pick from. He'd audible at the line all the time -- nearly every other play it seemed. He also instructed his offensive line on who and where to block on many plays. Simms doesn't do either of those things. I'm not sure whether that's a coaching change or Simms isn't comfortable doing that or he doesn't know what to call, but that might have been a part of Major's success -- he basically ignored Greg Davis' initial play call half the time.

if you can make all these points, then we are basically in agreement. we agree that davis is the problem. your solution is to let applewhite come in to audible everything he calls. my solution is to replace davis entirely to get a coordinator [applewhite? why not?] who could truly maximize all of the tremendous skills available in the offensive personnel we have [simms included but not just simms; benson, i. williams, scaife, legend, sloan, b.j.].

we agree on the problem. we just have different solutions.

so I guess here's my question to all the pro-applewhite guys:

had brown decided to make applewhite the outright starter this year, do you believe that applewhite could have steered this team to an undefeated national championship? I don't. I think he could've steered us to another good 9-3 season. now, that may be exactly what we end up with with simms at the helm, but I agree with brown in thinking that he had to make the simms gamble. for brown to stay employed, he will have to win a national championship. I think he is playing the odds that he has a better chance to win one playing simms this year and next than he would have playing applewhite this year and simms next.

other random UT points. . .

- I have always thought it would bite us in the ass that we didn't play anybody good before the ou game. for Texas to become a title contender, we are going to have to play some stiffer competition in the early going. we aren't going to get any better continuing to beat up on the weak sisters of the poor [new mexico, houston, tech]. mack needs to schedule tougher opponents in the early going. obviously, he has to play tech, but we need at least one good test going into the annual ou game. I actually think it will help us next year that we have to play nebraska and k. state. we might lose to them, but if we beat them, we will truly be good enough to call ourselves champions.

- my last item: what do you guys think the rest of this season will be like? what do they have to play for? since this is the first time UT has had a realistic shot at the national title, this is my first time as a fan to realize just how brutally unforgiving the current system is in college football. I can't think of another sporting system where, to win it all, you have to be perfect and win every single game you play. only college football penalizes a team so badly for losing one game. it sucks. I can't imagine the pressure on brown and the horns and every other title contender. how fun can it be when a 10-1 season with a bowl victory in any prestigious bowl other than the Rose over any prestigious team other than 1 or 2 in the bcs can be considered a complete disappointment? what do y'all think the rest of this year will be like?

hook 'em.

 

Simms was fine. I agree that long pass was a poor throw. Throwing that deep into the wind is always a mistake.

But Simms was generally on-target. The true problem was the abysmal running game. There was absolutely no threat of a ground attack. If you can turn a team one dimensional, it's very easy to neutralize the only remaining aspect of the game.

Incidentally, if you're really upset, blame the playcalling, no Simms.

OU was playing bend-but-don't-break defense. So what did Greg Davis do in the 2nd half? He had Simms throw the deep ball. And, surprise surprise, he got picked off.

OU was giving Texas the short slant every frickin' time. Texas should have capitalized. They didn't. They routinely sent their best guys exactly where OU wanted them.

I'm not going to blame Simms for not being Brett Favre, because that's about what it would have taken to succeed without a running game or a coordinator calling to hit the opponent's weakness.

 

My take on the Simms vs Applewhite solution.

There is one major difference in the 2 quarterbacks.

Chris Simms, goes to the line of skrimage, looks at the defense, starts the play and looks to see who is open.

Major Applewhite, goes to the line of skrimage, looks at the defense and KNOWS who is going to be open.

Also, Simms has HORRIBLE balance, and I don't mean when he throws, I mean when he has to avoid the rush, if you so much as breathe on him he goes down. He has terrible feet, and is unable to sidestep ANY rush.

There were several times when linebackers just got a hand on him and he crumpled.

Now, I think Simms will be a better quarterback then Applewhite, but unfortunatly for UT that won't happen until his 3rd year in the NFL.

Applewhite is better, because he is smarter and protects the ball better. Simms has a better arm and a bigger name as a father.

If Mack Brown was really ONLY about winning, Applewhite would be starting, and Simms would have redshirted.

It is clear there is some internal politics going on here.

By the way Greg Davis did not do Simms any favors by abandoning the run yesterday, and to not have Benson even in there for a series is BS.

Look at how well that Freshman Defensive lineman for OU played. I think the bottom line is that Stoopes and his staff is simply better.

DaDakota

 

I was wondering about that, too. If Ivan Williams can't manage, why not try your second string back?

But seriously, the game could've gone either way. That OU td could easily have never happened, and Texas could have scored a td one of several times.

Too bad it didn't, but no need to overreact.

 

The problem here is coaching. Greg Davis is not going to be fired. Neither is Mack Brown anytime soon.

So what are we going to do?

Applewhite as a starter would do no worse than Simms. 9-3? With this schedule, either QB could lead us to a 10-1 season. Simms has improved his interception problem against lesser opponents though. Simms had a chance to help UT win the big game. Although he was not totally at fault, his 4 interceptions did not help. Both QB's played under the same system. Applewhite put up better numbers and is the best QB in UT history. I thought Simms was going to be better than Applewhite with playing time. He has had enough time to prove himself. Yet, his inconsistent play has everyone calling for Major. We shall see next year how Simms handles playing at Lincoln and Manhattan without no backup with experience.

Who are we going to lose to with Applewhite as QB for the rest of the year? The only challenging game is the rivalry game vs. Texas A&M. The Aggies are bad and that doesn't help us at all.

Even at 10-1, I don't see us getting an at large bid because of our weak schedule. Nebraska and Oklahoma will both be playing in BCS bowls. I think the winner of the Big XII Championship game will be playing in the Rose Bowl.

I think we will be like Kansas State in 1998 with one loss but shut out of the BCS. IMO a return to the Cotton Bowl would be disappointing. A Cotton Bowl loss would be even more of a step back. Even with two back to back 10 win seasons at UNC, Mack has never coached in a BCS game.

Playing Simms is better in the long run (next year), but IMO Applewhite could do no worse and maybe sightly better. I have always been pro-Simms but now I question whether he really is who we think he is. We can also use the youth and inexperience excuse next year when we have a much tougher road schedule. And OU is just going to get better. And if A&M hires a new coach, the Aggies will be back. The road to a national championship gets more difficult for the next couple of years.

 

Well, if you're going 10-1 either way, why not start Simms and prepare for next year?

Seriously, it's hard to see Texas losing to anybody left on the schedule.

I think Texas has to hope they get lucky now. They could conceivably go 10-1 and 7-1 in Big 12 play... without ever beating a top 25 opponent. Which means the BCS might be a pipe dream now. There are just too many teams that might end up at 10-1 that actually will have to beat good teams.

Texas better hope Colorado and A&M are successful.

 

What has Simms done to deserve this playing time?

He has two big games to close the year (A&M and Oregon), and is handed the starting job in the Spring.

I can't comment on how good Simms looked in practice, however his numbers in games aren't spectacular. That can be blamed on the coaching staff who is not putting him in a position to be successful. It is also partly his fault for trying to make plays when nothing is there.

Why do people keep using the "youth and inexperience" excuse? OU is young and inexperienced. Stoops is using players from the Blake era in a spread system. He never says "these are not my recruits." Jason White, the OU backup, is an unknown high school prospect. Mangino's playing calling was excellent compared to GD's. Who would have thought a QB keeper and option play would have killed us? White did not turn the ball over and only threw when he had to. OU out rushed us! A credit to the defenses for shutting down the offenses.

It was our game to win and we didn't. Last year Mack could spin it as "we are a better team losing 63-14." What is the spin this year? "We are a better team knowing we struggle in big games and cannot win." There is nothing positive to take out of this loss except that we know we can shut down OU. We didn't make the plays and OU has "IT".

 

Do you think a loss to Colorado at home would have Davis fired?

If it would, I would root for the Buffs.

 

I've been wondering what it would take for brown to replace davis. I know slocum is a pretty loyal guy, too, but he has made the move to replace a coordinator before.

you look at the size of our line. you look at the quality of our running backs. davis has no excuse. it certainly isn't simms' fault that the Horns aren't running enough. that much is for sure.

as I was going asleep last night, I was trying to think about whether there is any "realistic" scenario in which the Horns could still win the title. here's the best I could come up with:

1) texas wins out
2) nebraska and colorado [or] texas a&m beat oklahoma
3) florida state beats florida and miami
4) ucla would probably need to get beaten by somebody
5) as part of winning out, texas would have to beat nebraska in the big 12 championship

I know it's not all that "realistic", but it's the best we could come up with.

I just think this whole simms/applewhite discussion is misguided. unless we start running the ball, it won't matter which of them is playing. I don't know if any of you pro-applewhite folks think he is good enough to overcome the lack of a running game. if he is, then by all means get him in there. I don't personally think he is. I also don't think simms is good enough to overcome the lack of a running game.

so, for me, the question is: where is the line for greg davis to be replaced?

shanna, you've been quick to dismiss the idea of davis being fired? why? what do you know that we don't?

is mack brown so loyal that he would rather lose his job and his chance at winning a title in order to stay with davis? or is there a line at which brown, despite his admirable loyalty, would cut davis loose in order to achieve his stated objectives?

I think we will find out.

and yes, I can see where this might all seem like an overreaction. but on the other hand, I believe with all of my heart that Texas had the better personnel yesterday. I want that personnel to be rewarded, and to in turn reward Texas' fans. for that to happen, davis needs to go. he reminds me of Ernie Zampese, the old screwmug who helped run the cowboys into the ground.

there are too many, dime-a-dozen, hot-shot offensive coordinators in the world who are too in love with the pass. the run may not be as exciting [although, when you can do it, it can lead to incredibly exciting passing attacks], but the run is what wins games.

RUN THE DAMN BALL!!

 

I don't think that's really true. Many teams have been highly successful with merely average running attacks. Many have won championships without anything great on the ground.

But it has to be a threat. I don't think any teams can get by anymore by being one dimensional. The days when the Huskers could run their way to the championship are over.

Can't pass? Ok, stack the box. Can't run? Ok, settle back and watch the QB struggle.

It works both ways. I actually think the passing game is more important, because it's more versatile. The passing game gives so many more points of attack to the offense. However, it won't work alone.