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The place to talk about the Texas Longhorns

6th Street

The place for off topic discussion on Hookem


Answer me this...

  • Incorrect. Nick Fairly won that game for Auburn going against Oregon's quick Offensive line.

    Even with that domination upfront defensively, Auburn still needed that fluke play when their freshman RB rolled over tacklers and was thought to be down and got up and ran into FG position for the SEC to pull out the win in that one.

    Since the SEC blowout win in '07, they haven't dominated a damn thing.

    If the Horns would have not been screwed in '08 and Colt's freak injury in '09; there would be a totally different conversation going on currently about both the SEC AND Mack Brown.

  • I don't thing he's flipping back. He wanted 'balance' that the spread didn't seem to give him after his QB went down and he had to throw in a freshman. Harsin was supposed to deliver that balance - different from the Saban's. Not just ground it out but add in some exotic. But he had to work with a QB with zero confidence, and other players not groomed for 'balance'. Grasping for and O identity in 2011 was pathetic - I'm actually impressed they came through it with a winning record after benching GG and going back and forth with Ash and McCoy. The surprise for 2012 was an O that started to find that balance and scored a shitload of points, and a D disappeared.

    Mack is probing, testing this and that, and unfortunately failing. Saban is a laser. Sumlin is the same, but with a completely different strategy. They have an identity, practice it, live it, and throw it in your face. F you, try to stop us.

    Mack was thrown so far off by the MNC and the subsequent losing year, he's been grasping at straws. He still wants balance - which is right - and Applewhite with our talent will be fine. His biggest mistake might not be moving away from the spread, but hiring Diaz. I hope he pulls his ass out of the fire.

  • that is a very good post he made. the problem came w/ offensive philosophy. we are not a "power rushing team" no matter how much we tried to be. ideally it's a great idea. shove it down their throat and there's nothing they can do about it. great. we tried it w/ Melton, Cody Johnson, Whaley, Joe Bergeron, Malcolm Brown, and lesser talented RB's. it simply hasn't worked. it's not what we are.

    Greg Davis idea was "we're faster, better, have a better QB and we'll out-athlete you." that worked. very well actually. Harsin was "we'll out-number you." this wasn't Boise State. players were faster, more athletic, and better coached. that didn't work.

    does that aggy Manziel look like VY and Colt? not nearly as good, but yes. and in the SEC. he won the Heisman.

    we simply didn't have the players. why try and fix what's not broken? it's exactly what we did.

    currently we have no identity. i don't know if that's good or bad. we'll see. are we a power running team? are we a spread offense? are we a West Coast offense? do we run the 15 seconds of fame "Wildcat" occasionally? do we run the pistol? are we an I-Formation team? do we zone block, man block or read block on the OL? are we a check off or a one-man route? do we run the option? do we run no huddle early in the game w/ a play already called as a surprise? do we audible and change plays? do we play field position relying on our special teams and defense? do we state one QB as the starter unless injury or horrible performance? all questions.

    i'm not really sure what to expect. i know something was working and it went in the sh!tter literally overnight.

    i'm still optomistic. i also think we may be a few years away.

  • I think Mack allowed the Bama game to beat him twice quite frankly. He reacted on instinct with respect to changing the offensive scheme, instead of looking at reality in terms of what that change was going to require from personnel. We just didn't have (as already mentioned) the guys up front to run that type of offense. I'm not sure in the end it changes the end result, because a lot of what happened after that point in terms of our record had a good deal to do with the QB play or lack thereof, but I do think it may have cost us some kids in recruting and limited some of our playmakers on offense as a result of the style of offense that Harsin/Mack ran overall. No question that we need to go back to the spread and run an offense that is more up tempo. We should put as much pressure on the opposing defense as possible to play us in space, force them to make tackles one on one and limit their ability to substitute. The only concern I have is by going this direction, you put a good deal more responsibility and pressure on the QB to make good reads and throws to keep the chains moving. It also can put more pressure on the defense if that throwing game or your QB is not on there game. Overall, I like the idea, but it still comes down to personnel no matter what.

  • This is one of the best threads I've seen in a long time. Reasonable posters giving informed opinions without injecting some extreme comment on the state of the program. I've actually learned a lot. Thanks guys. Up votes for everyone!!!