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Post by AustinHoya03 on Nov 26, 2007 14:01:11 GMT -5
This is from Kirk Bohls' column in the Statesman following the Texas loss:
"They've got a better game plan, and they prepared better for us," said tailback Jamaal Charles, the best Longhorn on the field Friday. "They bring everything they've got. They beat Texas; it's like their bowl game." Jamaal Charles was indeed the best Longhorn on the field on T+1, and I should say that because I gave him hell for fumbling the football earlier this season. I'll also give him credit for figuring out what Mack and his coaching staff have apparently failed to: that this game matters more to A&M than any other -- and for the record the Longhorns used to treat it that way, too. But after reading about Longhorn players quoted as saying they "felt sorry" for the Aggies before last year's game, and after seeing the team come out completely flat this season, I don't think Mack is sending the right message to his players. The announcers call this game "a rivalry with respect." Well, I for one would like to see that bull end. But while I would love for Mack to pull a Bo Schembechler and paste 38-30 in every Longhorn gridder's locker for the entirety of next season, I doubt it'll happen.
But here's the thing: A&M has (probably) taken Texas down to Alamo Bowl level the past two seasons. That not only puts a damper on the current season, it kills any momentum heading into next season. It's always the last game on the schedule, and Texas can kiss any national-level hopes goodbye if it continues to lose its final game of the season. So newsflash to Mack Brown: A&M has seriously injured your program over the past two years. Even if you don't care about winning because it's a rivalry game, care about winning because consistent losses to the Aggies will knock Texas off the national radar screen. You and Greg and Duane had better get your together or next thing you know recruits will be seriously listening to what Mike Sherman has to say in their living rooms.
I can't put all of this loss on the coaches -- players made mistakes or failed to capitalize on chances often. But there is too much talent on this team not to look at the coaches when the defense gives up 500 yards or when Stephen McGee looks like Superman.
The column I linked to above is headlined "Annoying and Mind-Boggling." I think that sums up this loss pretty well. Right now Mack "John Cooper" Brown's extension is looking pretty weak, and if he doesn't win next year -- when Texas will be stacked with talent and A&M will not -- he may join that smirking jackass Fran in the unemployment line. If finishing 9-3, losing to the Aggies, and heading back to the Alamo Bowl again is the new standard for Texas football, the fanbase is going to be pretty unhappy.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Nov 26, 2007 14:04:20 GMT -5
2 pm presser at Duke to fire Roof. I really thought Roof would get another year. While 1-10 is still clearly not an acceptable record, the Blue Devils were at least competitive this season. Not sure a coaching change at this point is going to move the program forward.
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theexorcist
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Post by theexorcist on Nov 26, 2007 14:06:16 GMT -5
The column I linked to above is headlined "Annoying and Mind-Boggling." I think that sums up this loss pretty well. Right now Mack "John Cooper" Brown's extension is looking pretty weak, and if he doesn't win next year -- when Texas will be stacked with talent and A&M will not -- he may join that smirking clown Fran in the unemployment line. If finishing 9-3, losing to the Aggies, and heading back to the Alamo Bowl again is the new standard for Texas football, the fanbase is going to be pretty unhappy. I'm sorry. How long ago did Texas win the national championship? And how had it been since their last one? And you honestly want to fire the coach?
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Nov 26, 2007 14:11:33 GMT -5
If Pelini is indeed gone at LSU, he should be on a plane to Lincoln already.
After thinking about last year's box score between Arkansas and LSU, and remembering that the Razorbacks still have McFadden and Jones, and also remembering that Les Miles is still the coach at LSU and the Tigers would therefore run the same gameplan as last season, I really did think the Hogs had a shot. As hoyarooter pointed out, I wrongly picked some other ridiculous upsets, but I'm not sure I really believed in OSU over OU (wishful thinking) or FSU over UF (just trying to needle hifi).
I'll be rooting for Mizzou next weekend, as well as CHAOS in the Pac-10. On paper and on principle, I don't think UCLA has a shot against SC, but after UT lost to TAMU for a second straight season, I'm not willing to rule out anything.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Nov 26, 2007 14:21:23 GMT -5
And you honestly want to fire the coach? It's called reading. Top to bottom, left to right. Group words together to form sentences. Take Tylenol for any headaches, Midol for any cramps. I don't want to fire the coach. I said that if Texas loses to A&M next season, when Texas should be good and A&M should be horrible, then the alumni and fanbase will start to talk about firing him. That is all I said above. And let me add: when Texas won in 2005, I called it Vince's championship, because the players (and one player in particular) deserved more credit than the coaches. If the national championship season is followed by three straight Alamo Bowl appearances, then we'll know that view is correct, and it will be time to start talking about a coaching staff (as opposed to a player) that can get Texas back to the national title game.
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theexorcist
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Post by theexorcist on Nov 26, 2007 14:47:33 GMT -5
And you honestly want to fire the coach? It's called reading. Top to bottom, left to right. Group words together to form sentences. Take Tylenol for any headaches, Midol for any cramps. I don't want to fire the coach. I said that if Texas loses to A&M next season, when Texas should be good and A&M should be horrible, then the alumni and fanbase will start to talk about firing him. That is all I said above. And let me add: when Texas won in 2005, I called it Vince's championship, because the players (and one player in particular) deserved more credit than the coaches. If the national championship season is followed by three straight Alamo Bowl appearances, then we'll know that view is correct, and it will be time to start talking about a coaching staff (as opposed to a player) that can get Texas back to the national title game. I'll ignore the flame bait. I will say that your post indicates some degree of commiseration with the logic. Mentioning it without any qualifer is sort of like quoting a newspaper article advocating X position without actually saying that you support X. In my view, it's wishy-washy. And Brown recruited Vince Young. It's sort of a no-win situation for him - lose and it's your fault, win and it's the players. Texas firing Brown would be like the Chargers making a coaching change at the end of last season - change for the sake of change. Texas isn't going to win the national championship or the Big XII every year. They remain a national championship contender. Mack Brown has proven that he's a coach that can lead them to the national championship, and has done so recently.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Nov 26, 2007 15:10:06 GMT -5
I called the Arkansas pick as well in our pool. Unfortunately, I also called Kentucky over Tennessee. It wasn't technically an "upset," since Kentucky was favored, but since more than half of those in our pool had the Vols, then I can call it one. But losing the pool by a 4 overtime game is not very much of a consolation prize. The worst part was the way we keep getting jerked around. My buddy and I each put in an entry and if either one of us win, then we split. This week we were both in the running late, but I had Missouri winning along with Washington over Washington State. My buddy had Washington State with Kansas winning. He was a game ahead of me along with another guy, but I had the tiebreaker almost perfect (Florida-FSU total points). I picked 58 and it finished at 57. To make a long story short, Missouri and Washington State won, putting me at 9-3. My friend was 10-2 alnong with one other person, but my buddy had picked 50 points. The other guy had 52. Ironically that last touchdown by Percy Harvin with 3 minutes left in the game cost us the pool. Or if Kentucky had won ... or if Kansas had won ... or if .... GRRRR... another annoying season of almost winning is almost over,.
As for the football, I hate to say it, but I think we get to watch the Buckeyes play for it all again. I think WVU wins this weekend and then handles OSU, giving the Scarlet and Grey yet another silver medal and adding further evidence that what is required to take any test at OSU is in fact .... a #2 pencil.
exorcist, Mack Brown is a solid coach but not a great one. Yes, he gets some of the credit for success under Vince Young, but ask many Longhorn fans and they will tell you he gets most of the blame for putting pretty boy Simms back out there over and over. They to this day think that Applewhite would have led them to at least one Natty Tite, if not more.
Lastly, I honestly think that Tebow will get the Heisman but it really wouldn't break my heart that much if Chase Daniel has a huge day and leads his team over the Sooners. I really don't want to see the Buckeyes in the Title game and I don't think West Virginia will lose this Saturday.
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vcjack
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Post by vcjack on Nov 26, 2007 15:58:48 GMT -5
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TigerHoya
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Post by TigerHoya on Nov 26, 2007 16:23:07 GMT -5
Nutt is reportedly replacing Gailey at GT.
Pelini thing may play out the rest of this week.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Nov 26, 2007 16:26:11 GMT -5
I'll ignore the flame bait. I will say that your post indicates some degree of commiseration with the logic. Mentioning it without any qualifer is sort of like quoting a newspaper article advocating X position without actually saying that you support X. In my view, it's wishy-washy. And Brown recruited Vince Young. It's sort of a no-win situation for him - lose and it's your fault, win and it's the players. Texas firing Brown would be like the Chargers making a coaching change at the end of last season - change for the sake of change. Texas isn't going to win the national championship or the Big XII every year. They remain a national championship contender. Mack Brown has proven that he's a coach that can lead them to the national championship, and has done so recently. I've never been wishy-washy on my feelings for Mack or his coaches. Feel free to check back as far as you like. You can start here. I expect Texas to compete for the conference championship every year -- they haven't the past two despite having, IMO, the talent to do so. The Longhorns have lost to less talented teams in A&M (twice) and K-State (twice). Despite what you say, Texas is not a consistent national title contender, and your logic that the 'Horns are because they won in '05 is flawed. If Mizzou wins its next two games, that will not make the Tigers a perennial contender for the BCS Championship. I'm wrong on many ocassions, and I don't mind taking flak from people who actually watch the games, but I doubt you have. You're entitled to your opinion, but it would be nice if it were based on actual knowledge rather than a flawed dissection of one of my posts. That's all from me on this subject.
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3GenerationHoya
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Post by 3GenerationHoya on Nov 26, 2007 16:53:24 GMT -5
Duke also dismissed their coach, which led me to say:
Ted Roof, Ted Roof, Ted Roof has been fired.
Perhaps it should be made into a rap song of some sort.
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theexorcist
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Post by theexorcist on Nov 26, 2007 16:56:53 GMT -5
(snip) I've never been wishy-washy on my feelings for Mack or his coaches. Feel free to check back as far as you like. You can start here. I expect Texas to compete for the conference championship every year -- they haven't the past two despite having, IMO, the talent to do so. The Longhorns have lost to less talented teams in A&M (twice) and K-State (twice). Despite what you say, Texas is not a consistent national title contender, and your logic that the 'Horns are because they won in '05 is flawed. If Mizzou wins its next two games, that will not make the Tigers a perennial contender for the BCS Championship. I'm wrong on many ocassions, and I don't mind taking flak from people who actually watch the games, but I doubt you have. You're entitled to your opinion, but it would be nice if it were based on actual knowledge rather than a flawed dissection of one of my posts. That's all from me on this subject. It's relatively difficult to catch many UT games over the air in D.C. I do follow college football, however. I continue to believe that favoring the firing of a coach simply because he doesn't meet the high level of expectations is folly. I won't go through all of your posts to refute or endorse your position and will simply leave it out there. I will say that the post you cited refers to the coaching staff being responsible for turnovers, which I would consider the fault of the players. Part of this is a discussion of who's responsible for what. With very few exceptions, I adhere to the "do no harm" school of thought. Mack Brown recruits very well, appears to manage a high-level program well, and has at least some coaching skills. Yes, he makes dumb decisions, but so does everyone. If Texas fires Brown, the chances of getting a total genius are very slim (I can see three - Pete Carroll, Jim Tressell and Urban Meyer - that are probably better, but that's it). The chances of getting someone approximately Brown's caliber are high, and the chances of getting a Bill Callahan equivalent aren't insignificant. Texas has no incentive to change coaches since Brown is adequate to win a national title. While Texas does not consistently win the Big XII, they do compete for the title. Since 2000 (and probably ending this year), his teams have finished in the top 15 every year. The team has finished either first or second in the Big 12 South every year. That's remarkably consistent and it makes them a consistent contender for the national title every year in my book. No one else in the country did that.
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Nov 26, 2007 17:24:14 GMT -5
I think that my criticism might have come out wrong. I am not advocating Mack Brown being fired nor do I think it is that likely. Only at Alabama do they fire coaches with that his kind of record (remember they fired Gene Stallings after he went 10-1 but lost to Auburn). All I was saying was that his "legacy" season was made largely because of the tremendous efforts of one player -- Vince Young -- and not because of his stellar coaching. With regards to his coaching, he was villified for his handling of Simms-Applewhite. Granted the backup quarterback is everyone posterchild when things are not going well. Still, I think Mack Brown did a good job with mediocre talent. At Texas, he immediately brought in top notch talent and has consistently had Texas amont the top dozen plus teams. It is very hard to do much better than that on a consistent level. Among other things, when Spurrier left Florida he mentioned a form of complacency, where many were just taking for granted 10 wins and frequent SEC championship appearances.
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kchoya
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Post by kchoya on Nov 26, 2007 18:25:42 GMT -5
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Post by kghoya on Nov 26, 2007 18:50:40 GMT -5
If you thought that was bad, you should have tried watching Notre Dame-Stanford. Dropped passes, numerous penalties, horrible blocking, badly missed field goals, anemic offenses, and countless squandered opportunities, on both sides. Made me want to vomit. BTW, did anybody see that helmet-to-helmet hit on Stanford QB Tavita Pritchard? Just awful. Commentators put it best that it would've been a hefty fine had it happened in the NFL. Yet the officials called no penalty. I hope this play gets reviewed, because it was a truly vicious, illegal hit on a QB that could have produced a really serious injury (thankfully, it did not). This was a missed call, but what effect does reviewing it have? They don't suspend players from reviews, do they? Frankly I thought it was illegal, but not dirty. Maybe he was trying to hurt the guy, but in my experience, he was probably just trying to make a play. Who knows. Let's talk about the worst missed call of the game (and the worst missed call I have ever seen). The ND touchdown catch that was overturned by replay. Does anyone have any thoughts on what the replay booth was thinking? It sure didn't look close. the pac10 replay guy reversed the best nd offensive highlight of the year... unreal
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TigerHoya
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Post by TigerHoya on Nov 26, 2007 20:44:59 GMT -5
Doba fired at Wazzu as the carnage continues
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TigerHoya
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Post by TigerHoya on Nov 27, 2007 10:53:40 GMT -5
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kghoya
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Post by kghoya on Nov 27, 2007 11:39:08 GMT -5
Doba fired at Wazzu as the carnage continues yeah and thats after a comeback win over their rivals in the apple cup
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hifigator
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Post by hifigator on Nov 27, 2007 12:15:10 GMT -5
I think that Mississippi came out of this smelling like a rose. I think that Arkansas came out smelling like a pigpen. How appropriate that is. I look for Arkansas to fall like a rock and establish themselves as the doormat in the SEC west. Their best players in Felix Jones and Darrne McFadden will almost certainly both be playing in the NFL next season, and the gems of their recruiting class last year are enrolled in different schools. Combine that with the fact that they will have a brand new and almost certainly lesser staff and I see a fomula for relative disaster for years to come. I think that competing in the SEC west against the likes of Tubberville, Saban, Croom, Nutt and whoever takes over for Miles at LSU if he should leave is going to be quite a daunting task and one that will take quite a while. I just think Arkansas will be bringing up the rear for quite some time.
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TigerHoya
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Post by TigerHoya on Nov 27, 2007 12:18:45 GMT -5
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