What Was Texas' Best Game This Year?

[selmaborntidefan]

Performance-wise?

I saw them play 3 full games and isolated segments of others. The three games were OU, A/M, Nebraska. The first 2 were huge rivalry games, so I'm hesitant to put a lot of stock in them. The third was something of a shock and if Nebraska had even ONE competent RB, we'd be playing Cincinnati on January 7.

But as I looked at the stats sheet and everything, it seems to me that Texas' best game - so far at least - was against Missouri. As I parsed through the stats, I noticed a few things that stood out about Texas.

1) They turn the ball over a LOT MORE than Alabama does. I think my count was 22 turnovers for Texas, 10 for Alabama. Six of our ten game in two games - the opener (a new offense with a new QB) and the South Carolina game (4).

2) They also GET A LOT MORE turnovers than Alabama. But my suspicion is that 1 and 2 are driven by their pass happy conference, which leads to my third observation.

3) The running defense stat is somewhat inflated.

I don't say this to take anything away from them, either. Honestly. But there were two opponents this year that had NEGATIVE RUSHING YARDS. Yet even in those games you'll see a guy break off a 20-yard run or two. Also - they had some teams down enough early that running the ball was not even an option.

4) Both sides - Alabama and Texas - get flagged for a truckload of penalties. Both have, however, gotten better as the season went on.

Having said all that...

Which game did Texas give its best overall performance in? I would really like to hear from Longhorn fans on this, but of course I'll read the Tide fans replies, too, esp. those who have watched Texas a lot this year.

It appeared to me that Texas' best overall game is Missouri. Few turnovers, good passing and rushing, good stopping the opposition.

Do you agree or was it somebody else?

 

[GrandBayTider]

Considering the opposition, I would hazard their best game was probably Oklahoma St. This was supposed to be a tough close game but UT won it going away, on the road at that.

 

[pa-paw]

The Oklahoma State was probably the most complete game. The chemistry on offense was way better in 2008. Texas of 2009 has the talent, but there have been some chemistry problems between Colt and the receiving core. The offensive line problems has also contributed to the receiving breakdowns. Shipley is the one receiver that has been money. Texas will have had a month to straighten things out, so it's all on the coaches, at this point. You guy win, if we don't bring an “A” game. I'm pretty sure you guy's will see a Texas “A” game, however. Should be a good game.

 

[jps1983]

They dismantled a quality OSU team. I think OSU was w/o Dez Bryant when they played, but the offense still had weapons and was shut down big time by UT. I don't know about OSU's defensive performances, but UT hung a lot of points on the board regardless.

 

[BAMA504]

Yea I agree their best game was Ok St not just because they blew them out but it was on the road and they took the crowd out of the game and really just dis-mantled OkSt.
I will say a close second was the OU game not really because of the score but because it was their biggest rival and OU has the best defense they have faced until Jan 7th.. IMO.. Beating OU is not easy as we well know but as far as a really good game to watch it was one of their better ones it was too bad Bradford went down because I wanted to see how the game would of came out if he played the entire game.. that is not saying Texas would of lost but it levels the playing field~!~

 

[bayoutider]

Yea I agree their best game was Ok St not just because they blew them out but it was on the road and they took the crowd out of the game and really just dis-mantled OkSt.
I will say a close second was the OU game not really because of the score but because it was their biggest rival and OU has the best defense they have faced until Jan 7th.. IMO.. Beating OU is not easy as we well know but as far as a really good game to watch it was one of their better ones it was too bad Bradford went down because I wanted to see how the game would of came out if he played the entire game.. that is not saying Texas would of lost but it levels the playing field~!~

I too would have liked to see what the score would have been with Sam Bradford in the whole game. But I am still glad Texas won for the selfish reason that I want Alabama to beat Texas before I die.

 

[BAMA504]

I too would have liked to see what the score would have been with Sam Bradford in the whole game. But I am still glad Texas won for the selfish reason that I want Alabama to beat Texas before I die.

Me too and it has to be this year since we only play them what once every 20 years and I am just not sure I have another 20 left in my body~!~

 

[PattheCatinSaudi]

But I am still glad Texas won for the selfish reason that I want Alabama to beat Texas before I die.

Amen to that.:biggrin2:

 

[jps1983]

LOL @ Hook'em; he won't last long here. Does anyone know if Dez Bryant played in the OSU/ UT game? or what were the final team defense numbers for OSU?

 

[patriot34]

3) The running defense stat is somewhat inflated.

I don't say this to take anything away from them, either. Honestly. But there were two opponents this year that had NEGATIVE RUSHING YARDS. Yet even in those games you'll see a guy break off a 20-yard run or two. Also - they had some teams down enough early that running the ball was not even an option.

It would be interesting to see Texas' opponents average rushing yards per game for the season, then compare what those same teams rushed on Texas. When you do the same statistical analysis for the Bama rush defense it favors Bama quite a bit!

Bama's concerns on defense, however, will be similar to the Arkansas game(with the addition of a more mobile QB), and the Virginia Tech game (minus a great RB in Ryan Williams, but with a more accurate QB).

That being said, it would be a tough choice between OK State and Missouri.

 

[Burnt Orangeman]

One could argue that Texas peaked around the Missouri - Oklahoma State games.

Oklahoma State missed Dez Bryant but they backfilled the running back nicely. Their quarterback is very good but streaky. As I recall our defense picked him off pretty good.

 

[bamacon]

Ok. St. is UT's BIG win? Really? I'll watch the Cotton Bowl against Ole Miss and revisit the topic.

 

[jps1983]

"Which game did Texas give its best overall performance in?"

This is going to sound like a cop-out but Texas is yet to have really clicked all year on offense. Things have seemed disjointed and erratic all year. Periods of inefficiency have been sandwiched between big plays.

There is the hopeful side of Longhorn fans that hope "maybe it will all come together in the title game" but there are two solid reasons for Horn fans to be concerned.......I have never seen a veteran o-line at Texas perform this far below expectations and the loss of Quan Cosby has left us without a 2nd WR option that Colt really trusts. Malcolm Williams is an insanely talented guy but he hasn't become that consistent 2nd option yet.

Texas could win this game with big plays from the D and special teams and occasional offensive big plays but the Texas offense hasn't had the fluidity and consistency it did last year and I don't expect that to change on 1/7/10.

That's pretty blunt coming from a UT fan. Yall have a lot of talent, so it's not out of the realm of possibility of having yall's best game on Jan. 7, but I tend to agree with your assesment of your OL and I think that'll be where Bama wins the game.

 

[37bamagrl]

Nice knowin ya hookem...

 

[TexasLidig8r]

If the Texas offense from the A&M game comes.. and the defense from the Nebraska game shows up, we will win by 21.

However, if the Texas defense from the A&M game shows up.. and the offense from the Nebraska game comes, you will win by 21.

 

[2003TIDE]

If the Texas offense from the A&M game comes.. and the defense from the Nebraska game shows up, we will win by 21.

However, if the Texas defense from the A&M game shows up.. and the offense from the Nebraska game comes, you will win by 21.

No going to happen. Texas will be lucky to score 21 much less win by 21.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

"Which game did Texas give its best overall performance in?"

This is going to sound like a cop-out but Texas is yet to have really clicked all year on offense. Things have seemed disjointed and erratic all year. Periods of inefficiency have been sandwiched between big plays.

There is the hopeful side of Longhorn fans that hope "maybe it will all come together in the title game" but there are two solid reasons for Horn fans to be concerned.......I have never seen a veteran o-line at Texas perform this far below expectations and the loss of Quan Cosby has left us without a 2nd WR option that Colt really trusts. Malcolm Williams is an insanely talented guy but he hasn't become that consistent 2nd option yet.

Texas could win this game with big plays from the D and special teams and occasional offensive big plays but the Texas offense hasn't had the fluidity and consistency it did last year and I don't expect that to change on 1/7/10.

That's downright brutal. I must say that, the more I've looked at the OL, the more it looks like CNS can exploit some areas. I appreciate the honesty. TBF, some of the bravado I've read on some of your boards read very much like whistling past the graveyard. Both teams have certainly shown the capacity for the big play on ST and defense. I guess my real worry about our team is the fact that, in midseason - and even during the first part of the AU game, our play-calling seemed to go into a shell and Greg went right in with it. Of course, the offense - and GMac - came on like gangbusters at the end of the AU game and also the UF game. I hope that team is the real, permanent team...

 

[kayakerjess]

It would be interesting to see Texas' opponents average rushing yards per game for the season, then compare what those same teams rushed on Texas. When you do the same statistical analysis for the Bama rush defense it favors Bama quite a bit!

I posted this on a different forum. Hopefully it provides a little insight into their competition.

True that Texas didn't have allow any 100 rushers, but against A&M they gave up 97 rushing yards to the QB and another 83 to a RB. Plus, Texas only played 3 teams that are in the TOP 50 rushing in the country. By contrast, Bama did not allow a 100 yard rusher either, and they played 8 teams in the top 50 in rushing, 4 of which were in the top 15 (Mississippi St - 9, Florida - 10, Auburn - 13, Virginia Tech - 15). Muschamp is a great coach, and I'm sure they will have a good scheme to stop Ingram, but he is not the entire offense. Look at the Auburn game. They completely sold out to stop Ingram (it worked), and we plugged in our next to RBs to get the job done, and won the game by passing the ball.

This will not be a blow out for either team, but this stat alone means nothing.

And, yes, I would argue that Florida has an equal amount of offensive weapons as Texas. Has Texas faced a team that has as many offensive weapons as Bama?

How can you say that the Texas rush defense is better than Bama's? Is it purely based on the 62.9 rushing yards per game? If so, you should consider the competition. The teams that Texas played don't rank anywhere near those that Bama played in terms of rushing offense. There is no comparison. The fact that Bama is second in rushing defense and 8 out of 13 teams were in the TOP 50 rushing in the country is a telling statistic. Combined with Texas's inability to run the ball this year, it looks to put McCoy in a one-dimensional offense.

Again, I don't expect this to be a blowout by any means. Texas is a good team. But, if I were a longhorn fan, I would be really concerned about my team's ability to run the ball and stop the run.

 

[Paul Wesley]

I agree that the UT run defense is statistically boosted by playing teams that don't really run it. That said, our team defense stats are just sick. Our defense was far-and-away the best in college in limiting thier opponents' yards per attempt. We're something like 30% better than the second-best team (which is Bama, if I recall correctly).

We didn't face that many rushing attempts because teams like Okie State, Mizzou, Baylor, etc. found themselves down three scores in the first half, and they realized that two rushes put them in 3rd-and-long. There wasn't a compelling reason to keep running the ball.

Nebraska stubbornly kept running it all game long, and ended up with about 100 yards of TOTAL offense for the day. Of course, Suh manhandled the interior of the UT O-line, and kept them in the game despite their offensive ineptitude.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I agree that the UT run defense is statistically boosted by playing teams that don't really run it. That said, our team defense stats are just sick. Our defense was far-and-away the best in college in limiting thier opponents' yards per attempt. We're something like 30% better than the second-best team (which is Bama, if I recall correctly).

We didn't face that many rushing attempts because teams like Okie State, Mizzou, Baylor, etc. found themselves down three scores in the first half, and they realized that two rushes put them in 3rd-and-long. There wasn't a compelling reason to keep running the ball.

Nebraska stubbornly kept running it all game long, and ended up with about 100 yards of TOTAL offense for the day. Of course, Suh manhandled the interior of the UT O-line, and kept them in the game despite their offensive ineptitude.

Looks like it'll be settled in the trenches - again...