Oh man. Game of the year. No prediction from me. This one is too close to call. BTW, Simms-haters, anymore questions? He was nearly perfect to start the game.
Here's one. Why isn't Applewhite starting? Watch some game film. Like I've said before, I'm not sure if I'd rather have another quarterback in the country to start for UT, much less Major Applewhite.
Maybe I'll just watch the games themselves. Look, could Applewhite have topped 21 for 26 last night. No. Could he have topped the first two barely 50% games of the year. Yes. Could he probably have beaten the Houston game. Maybe (we'll call it a tie). I don't know how much more I could wish for Simms to do this year but I'll still believe Applewhite would be doing better if he was in there. He didn't break all of our passing records on accident. And I'm not sure it matters who is starting against OU cuz we're gonna get beat if our defense doesn't come close to the quarterback like last night (please tell me they were holding back A LOT for OU).
F4prez, I think the lack of pass rush was because we only rushed three guys and dropped the rest in coverage. The pass rush better be good against OU.
Were we watching the same game? The reason Tech struggled so much against our defense is because we dropped back in coverage on almost every play. If you checked the box score, you'd know that Kingsbury threw 40-57 for 240 yards = 6 yds/pass. I'd say the defense pretty much manhandled the Red Raiders. Also, we started blitzing late in the 4th, resulting in Derrick Johnson and Maurice Gordon getting sacks. As far as OU goes, Simms is indeed the man for the job. He's got the speed to run around in the pocket when OU sends various blitz packages. Applewhite is an awesome drop-back passer but has poor lateral movement, and has trouble outside of the pocket. Simms played a near perfect game last night, 21-26, 226 yds, 1 INT, 1 pass TD, 2 rush TD. Back to OU.... This team knows how to win- hands down. They can win with offense, defense, and special teams. Their punter is a stud, their QB's a dud, but their receivers are some of the best athletes in the country. Hybl does have a nice touch for the deep ball, but makes alot of bad short passes, and struggles against a good pass rush (ok, well KSU has a bad ass D). Bottom line: field position/kicking game, special teams play, running game, and turnovers will be the key to the game. Both teams' offenses are potent, as are their defenses. The intangibles will make the difference. The Horns will have to play a near perfect game to win in Dallas next weekend. It's 2:02 PM CT in Austin, Texas, and OU still sucks. OUT.
1. It's not hard to break passing records at a school where the run was the primary weapon until very recently. 2. Applewhite just has too many limitations. He's slow and has a noodle for an arm. Texas might not be able to win a title with Simms. They almost certainly can't with Applewhite. 3. Simms' early season performance was hampered by tons of drops 4. Texas didn't have penetration largely because they were rushing 3 guys and didn't blitz often. If they could achieve great penetration with a 3 man rush... well, they'd probably manhandle the Green Bay Packers . 5. You'd rather have Simms than Rex Grossman? Man, I don't think I agree, there.
Grossman is awesome, but he does play in a pass happy offense. BTw, who saw that hit by Nathan Vasher? That was brutal. Was it me, or were we just alot faster than Tech?
Saw it? I could HEAR the damn thing from section 26 on the other side of the field! Absolutely awesome. I wonder how #82 for Tech feels today?
Until watching that Kstate-OU game, I actually believed OU was an excellent team again. Perhaps not championship caliber, but damned good. I've changed my mind. They're very beatable now, and had trouble with a KState team that lost talent on both sides of the ball. Their defense got shredded by someone who had been unimpressive thus far. Griffin got killed by a good defense. Hybl completed less than 50% of his passes even with kstate stacking the line against the rush. Texas is better than Kstate. OK was playing at home. I was leaning towards OU beating Texas. Now, I think the only way Texas loses is if they choke.
I am a UT student and have been to every game so far. If You want a team to go 9-3, then Applewhite is your man. If you want to win it all, Simms is the way to go. Simms can complete passes that Applewhite can only dream about completing. If Simms can't come through in the big games, then UT is just screwed then. I would still rather have Simms. But I don't know if UT is good enough to beat OU. It looks as if the defense is, but if the Offense plays like it did the first three games, UT is in trouble. JBIIRockets
Applewhite is better than Simms. We're not talking about pro prospects here, we're talking about college qbs. Simms did have his best game of the year...but it was still just probably a normal game for Applewhite. 225 yards? Yawn. Simms is not the starter on merit, that's all I'll say on that.
He only threw 26 passes though. His yards per attempt average is decent. Anytime your QB completes 21 of 26, it's good. Well, unless you're Kliff Kingsbury.
Is Simms starting on merit? Answer that for me. It's stupid college football politics. The better QB is on the bench. He's spending his senior year ON THE BENCH, while a pretty boy is getting all the snaps. That's just not right.
I see it this way. Simms is the better QB in practice. He starts on Saturday because of that and because he has potential. He can make plays that Applewhite cannot however he also makes mistakes that Applewhite does not. He is relatively inexperienced and has not been given a chance to develop. Politics is involved. If Simms does not start, Simms transfers to another school. No way a guy like Simms with "pro potential" sits on the bench. Simms was the 1999 USA Today Prep Offensive Player of the Year. He is the son of a very famous NFL QB. Other big name guys will not come to Texas if Simms is not given a fair deal. However, Applewhite is not going to influence many people to sign with Texas. With Mock in waiting, I doubt Simms would redshirt.
Well Mock is still only a redshirt-frosh, and Simms had said he would have shirted if he weren't the starter. As of now, no matter what Simms does, Major fans will never support him.
Mack had three choices: 1) Name Applewhite the starter. Risk of Simms transfer. 2) Name Simms the starter. Applewhite backup. 3) Redshirt Simms. Name Applewhite the starter. Promise Simms the job next year. Mack chose number two. In the long run it benefits us. No matter what happens this year, Simms will be back next year.
Smokey, if Chris has a great great year, you think he'll stay? I know he's saying that NOW, but almost all athletes have said that beforehand. Once decision time comes, more times than not, the ones that can go to the pros usually do.
