Recruiting Football Talk VIII

[therickbol]

S

Sampson rolling out of the backfield was uncovered MANY times. I was screaming HIT SAMPSON several times but Nico couldn't hear me. Nico was pressing, I don't think he even glanced at his check down most of the game, he was always looking to take the downfield throw.

Saw same thing a few times. And the good news coming out of that is this is where we see Nico grow. We got QB coaches, plural, who will digest everything with him in film review. Nico will get more comfortable with decisions as he gains experience. That's the typical progression. Sometimes players will struggle and it will never click. It's possible that will be the case with Nico. Just like it could be the case with all young players. But fans losing all confidence in Nico because he is still growing in his 6th start in a tough environment might just be a little over-reactionary.

 

[engineerVOL]

If we were snapping it before the comms shut off like we almost always did previously, it wouldn't be an issue.

But that makes complete sense why we've stopped going tempo, Heupel is wanting to talk to Nico the full time instead of just getting the play in and ripping it. I hadn't thought of the comms part either.

I think we’ve figured this thing out lol.

Makes me concerned. Because that’s all he has trained with all camp.

 

[Aesius]

Mike Felder on 104.5 brought up an interesting point. He said he believes that it is not necessarily “Heup doesn’t trust Nico” but rather Heup trying to hard too control the flow of the game.

The A&M game and really all of 2023 changed Heup a bit as a coach. I think he became a bit too enamored with winning in an old-school way. And it kept working through OU this year. But then it didn't work vs Arkansas because our team isn't really built to win that way, especially when we get penalized a bunch and don't have a great OL. I just hope it isn't hard for him to flip that switch mid-season and go back to being aggressive on offense.

 

[therickbol]

I fully expect us to lose Saturday and honestly you can’t blame me. Gonna be a long week..

Don't let logic and reason get in the way of your feelings. No blame.

 

[UTSuave’]

God bless em!..

 

[jave36]

I think we’ve figured this thing out lol.

Makes me concerned. Because that’s all he has trained with all camp.

You can still use the comms, just get up to the line and snap it. Why are we waiting until there's 15 seconds on the play clock to snap it? We've had so much more success snapping it with 25+ on the play clock during Heupel's entire time here. I'm almost certain they're not practicing slow tempo during the week, which is why we look horrific going slow tempo on Saturdays.

 

[kemotoe]

We need to get rid of the orange pants.

Orange Pants on Road (Heupel era) 20% winning percentage
Arkansas 24 LOSS
Mizzou 23 LOSS
Georgia 22 LOSS
Kentucky 21 WIN
Florida 21 LOSS

White Pants on Road 60% winning percentage
NC State 24 WIN
Oklahoma 24 WIN
Kentucky 23 WIN
Bama 23 LOSS
Florida 23 LOSS
Vandy 22 WIN
SoCar 22 LOSS (orange helmets)
Pitt 22 WIN
Bama 21 LOSS
Mizzou 21 WIN

 

[jave36]

The A&M game and really all of 2023 changed Heup a bit as a coach. I think he became a bit too enamored with winning in an old-school way. And it kept working through OU this year. But then it didn't work vs Arkansas because our team isn't really built to win that way, especially when we get penalized a bunch and don't have a great OL. I just hope it isn't hard for him to flip that switch mid-season and go back to being aggressive on offense.

I thought Joe just wasn't capable of going fast so he slowed it down all last year, but maybe you're right, Heupel just doesn't want to go fast anymore for some reason.

 

[teamdeke]

Sometimes coaches embrace the narrative around them and sometimes they work hard to change the narrative. Maybe Heupel got sick of hearing about a "gimmick" offense and is trying too hard to change how people view him and his teams. Regardless, the play calling is a shell of what it was a few years ago and, even though Golesh is gone, there are still plenty of holdovers from that staff. The difference in offensive approach is crazy to see.

 

[mr.checkerboards]

 

[therickbol]

Not disgruntled at all. Anyone confident in a W this weekend is not honest. Everyone was super confident against Arky…

I was in the stands for Georgia St and still went to BYU the next week. Not going anywhere bud

You watched the last 6 quarters as a heavily invested, emotional fan. You did not compile accurate evidence to form your hypothesis about what will happen Saturday. That's the truth. Vegas odds makers have zero emotional attachment to results. They simply gather hard, concrete evidence. Analyze it with no bias. And after the last 6 quarters that they watched they don't even think it will be a close game. Every game is a different animal with butterfly effect circumstances so nobody predicts accurately all the time. But what is important from that information is that it is the difference between a rational, intelligent hypothesis (Vegas odds makers) vs an emotional, unintelligent hypothesis (UT fans fully expecting an L).

 

[mrMet]

Anybody still trying the -500 challenge?

 

[therickbol]

I think Nico will be a slightly bigger Jayden Daniels when it’s all said and done. Daniels didn’t do much until his last year of college and then he exploded, but his talent was evident dating back to HS. Nothing changes about Nico’s potential, the question now is we may see a redshirt junior year of Nico after what was thought to be a 3 year college career. And once he puts on 10 more pounds, with GM & Merk backing him up, I believe coaches unleash him full time to run the ball.

Thought about you prediction for a few minutes. Seems unlikely. Nico has played 6 games and he is obviously trash and can't improve. You are what you are after 6 college games is one Neyland's Maxims I believe.

 

[KB5252]

I agree with that. He may not trust his OL to keep Nico upright, but I don't get the impression he distrusts Nico.

After seeing some film breakdown on Nico he's missing a lot, holding the ball too long.I think there's some truth to Heupel not being comfortable with Nico, but I think Manny other factors are play also, like o line.

 

[rikberry31]

A few things:

Sorry on the misspelling of Elarbee. My bad.

UT did have a good o-line in 2022 with a line full of players here from the previous coaching staff and a lineman with top-10 NFL potential.

Do you not have the slightest hesitation with the offensive line play thus far this season? It has 4 Seniors starting on it. I expected them to be better than they have been. The reality of there not being younger guys ready to step in falls at Elarbee's feet.

We can be critical of a performance by a unit and hope it's just a single event. But, the last 2 games coupled with the development piece do make me question the bigger picture.

I hope that UT neglects in maximizing Nico's potential because the line play is subpar during the time that he's on campus. If Heard is hurt or whatever, if Campbell's injuries are too much, then at some point, Elarbee has to put those younger lineman in and hope that they are ready enough.

Saturday's loss isn't just on the line. It was a total team loss. The offensive line, along with the coaching/playcalling on Saturday night, were 2 of the biggest factors in the loss.

First off, I do have concerns about the o-line. The common denominator against the two good defenses we've played is the tackles and if Heard and Campbell can't get it done then it will be on to plan b.
Your original statement was not reasonable it was the lunatic fringe kinda comment, basically it was we can't hire Pitman as pur new o-line coach because we saved his hide by losing to him. Having concern is perfectly normal reaction not the Queen of Hearts off with their heads nonsense. If every coach that the lunatic fringe hired or fired we would in big pile of mess forever.
Second you "Hope that UT neglects in maximizing Nico's potential." Wtf??? Jumped up Judas Priest! Are you Uncle Lou? Lord I hope that was a typo.

 

[rikberry31]

That may literally be the worst part of the loss. Hello MM.

Well, the watercooler coaches were all clamoring for the kids to be put in and now they will get them.

 

[mrMet]

Okay. You must be thinking of ‘22. I’m not talking ‘22. I said last 2 years after golesh left.

Fact we only scored 20 points vs 34 points bama
Joe Milton 28-41 278
Joe Milton leading rusher 15 car 59 yards

Kentucky
We won 33-27
Joe Milton 227 yars


Mizz
We lost 36-7
Milton 277
Milton 36

This is the game where I started to notice the stack look

The post you responded to was directly referencing 22. Which you replied saying those defenses sucked. Please see below

 

[Midas]

Ok in two years of road games there have been two live ball penalties called against our opponents offenses. One against FL and one against MO last year.

You know after Mizzou and then bama went down that day, I thought we for sure had it in the bag and that my bet on us would hit cause no way another top 10 team goes down in the same day. Now I know if Bama and UGA lose they’ll find a way to make whoever would over take them lose. If Texas loses to OU then that’s for sure what’s happening lol. I know it’s not like a good Texas team hasn’t loss to OU in recent years but when the game is going on and there’s a bunch of questionable calls then I’ll feel like my hypothesis is correct lol. Not completely blaming refs here because we had opportunities to still win but they know they can make it harder on a team if they want to.

 

[rikberry31]

Lol I'd like to believe Heard is better.

I'm starting to think that when that Hog waved his arm at Heard then just ran by him with his feet in the mud he was using some kinda Jedi mind trick. "This is not the man you're trying to block." It's the only answer that makes sense.

 

[TrippieRedd]

We need more Jalin Hyatts

Screw 4.4, we need 4.2 forty yard dashes

 

[Midas]

Screw 4.4, we need 4.2 forty yard dashes

Jalin is for sure faster than 4.4 I’m pretty sure his hamstring was bothering him. He’s more of an after burn guy though which is what I think caught DB’s off guard.

 

[rikberry31]

Gud Lort.

 

[volinbama256]

Are they expecting much storm surge on the east coast?

Maybe we can find someone who knows the folks that are manipulating these hurricanes and ask them what their directional plans are.... hopefully they let it just blow through naturally this time... FL or any other area cannot take another hit like NC and the surrounding area just took.

 

[TrippieRedd]

You could fart at one end of the storm and a person at the other end would smell it instantly.

 

[MrKnowItVol]

Are they expecting much storm surge on the east coast?

as of 11:00 this morning