He’s pretty lousy behind the mic overall, but then again, most color analysts in general are, so I guess that’s not saying much.
This is so true, MM. I said nearly the same thing to Mark walking to the car yesterday.
To me, it’s the biggest indicator that Texas may have finally turned the corner from a talented team to a really good team. Talent can get you to a lead at halftime, but the good teams take control in the second half and put the game away. I have far more confidence in this Texas than I have in any Texas team since the Colt McCoy days.
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The most noticeable difference this year is that the offensive line just wears people down. The last drive of the 3rd quarter on it was obvious that the KU defensive line was absolutely whipped. They weren’t getting any penetration on run plays, so Brooks literally was 3 yards past scrimmage before he had to make a move/decision on where to run.
Texas did the same thing to Bama as well.
Imposing your will on the offensive line late in games is truly a sign of major improvement, because last season in the 4th quarter, Texas REALLY struggled to run the ball.
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I agree, and this is the thing that has puzzled me for the longest time: how can the University of Texas, of all teams, not attract and develop an NFL-caliber OL? I’m glad to see that Sarkisian has made it a priority.
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I think that they’ve attracted NFL caliber recruits for a long time. They haven’t developed them is the problem.
A huge part of Oline development is strength, but equally important is agility and stamina. Getting leaned on for 4 quarters as a DL is really taxing if you’re just getting road graded on every play.
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I kinda folded that into my thinking of “take control in the second half” but you’re right that the O-line needs to be specifically praised. For all the talk of WR’s and QB’s, football has always been won, and lost, along the lines of scrimmage.
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I watched the highlights this morning and the WRs are really doing a lot of work blocking downfield as well. AD Mitchell got the key block to pop Brooks free on the 50ish yard TD run, and was really heavily involved in the blocking on a lot of the running plays.
Looking at 247, from 2014-2021 Texas signed 9 4+ star O-linemen, they signed 4 in 2022 alone and another 2 in 2023, and a 5star committed for 2024, so far. From 9 in 8 years to 7 in 3 years. Sark has made the commitment and if they do a good job of developing, good O-line play should be the norm going forward.
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That guy, is a dude.
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He catches every ball with his hands no matter where the ball is thrown.
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“We need bigger humans in our program, and we need more of them.” – Sark, summer 2022
You’re a dude. That’s a man.
Sometimes there’s a man, and he’s the man for his time and place
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I’m not you’re buddy, guy.
He thinks the carpet-pissers did this?
I’m not your guy, pal.
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The last couple of Herman years were particularly brutal with OL recruiting. I don’t remember the year (19 or 20?), but the staff completely whiffed on what was supposed to be a historic class of OL talent. But I agree completely that the guys they did get in were not developed well.
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Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate! I see that it’s currently 8:38 am… and OU still SUCKS!
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