First I'm just gonna go ahead and say there will be some bitching and moaning in this post. Either deal with it or ignore it. I'm fine with either. This is therapy for me coming to grips with how our team is right now. It won't be all negatives though. Also this is gonna be like an essay of stuff so tl;dr I understand if reading is hard and you don't want to read it.
With the warning out of the way, let's get into what I think the positives of the team are right now;
1.) I think we have the best receiving corp in the country and I don't think it's particularly close. Like damn, are Simmons and Gundy not two of the best coaches in the country at what they do? It seems like for as long as I can remember we've always had 'The Guy' as our receiver and then a bunch of garbage around him. Maybe you'll get a situation where you have two really good guys on the team at once but one is an upperclassman and the other is a freshman who isn't there yet. So for us to have two receivers that anyone in the country would kill for is something in it of itself and something we should be celebrating. They're so fundamentally sound as well. They don't take unnecessary tackles if they don't have to and they block very well. Our blocking with our WR's is criminally underrated. Those guys should be getting pats on the back more for that. And it's not just our go to guys that are amazing because we have some secondary guys that are coming along nicely and demanding attention like Lee Morris & Calcutta. And they are all developing at a very nice pace and turning into being all around receivers. Hollywood has improved to the point where I'd argue he's our most improved player so far this season. Even Lamb took a pretty step forward. I think Simmons could have an argument made for him that he's our best assistant coach. It'd be a really interesting argument to see played out between him and Bedenbaugh.
1a.) I know it was Baylor and I know their secondary was shit. But this receiving corp has been consistent no matter who they've played when they've gotten their opportunities. We need to appreciate them while we can. Especially Hollywood because that kind of speed is special. Also I know that Lamb doesn't have crazy speed and Baylor is probably the only school in the Big 12 he can break off a run like that against, but credit to Wiley. Lamb is definitely faster than what he was when he first got here.
2.) Kyler Murray is really ****ing good. It's almost impossible to follow up what Baker did because of how high he set the bar but we need to appreciate how special of a player he is and how while he might be reaching the bar he's as close to it as one can get. Seriously the strides he's taken as a QB since being with the Aggies is absolutely incredible. He's definitely not flawless but man I think he's a top 3 QB in the country right now with Grier and Tua. What he's doing is something that gets overlooked because of how much we shit all over the defense all the time. You've gotta think that if he keeps this up that Riley is going to get to a point where he can walk into any kids house anywhere on the planet and convince them to come play QB for him. It's insane how much of a QB whisperer he is. Or appears to be. We could just caught lightning in a bottle with the talent though I highly suspect Riley had something to do with molding it.
3.) Kenneth Murray. He didn't have the greatest game in the world against Baylor but I've been high on him for a long time. I thought he got wrongly crucified for a lot of what happened last season. He was a true freshman playing the MLB spot for the first time in his career. Every mistake he made last season was on Mike Stoops & Tim Kish for letting a true freshman start at the Mike spot when he's never played that spot before in his life. Murray earned a pass harder than anyone I've ever seen for mistakes last season because he should not have been in the position he was in. Especially because he got in over his head a couple of times last season, cough Rose Bowl cough, but the coaches just threw him out there to wolves. I guess it was to speed up his development and we had no one else but Jesus that situation was terrible.... Anyway he's coming along at a very nice pace. I think he's turning into someone who could be a possible All American if everything goes right for him when he's a senior. I'm really happy with his pace and I won't lie, I smile every time I see the Neck Roll. I appreciate that out of him. Still does some stuff wrong but he's getting better every week it seems like.
4.) Tim Kish. He's been a punching bag, rightfully so and wrongfully so at times, for the most part but I'll give credit where credit is do. Our LB's have played really well this year so far outside of the Army game. I'm not gonna go overboard because **** him and **** Mike.... But tip of the cap to him for the performance so far this season.
Now for the whiny bitchy moaning part from me. If you wanna check out and not read any further I completely understand. But here we go, time for the shit list of things I don't like;
1.) Tre Brown and Ronnie Perkins. Why are they on here you ask? Because Mike, Thibs, and Cooks have some serious explaining to do as to why they haven't been playing more. It's absolutely infuriating and mystifying that they haven't been out on the field more. Ronnie Perkins looks like 'The Guy' on our defensive line already. You're telling me you couldn't get him out on the field more against ****ing ISU and ARMY of all teams? And Tre Brown. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. I think Cooks should lose his job at the end of the season (Woo first negative point I'm making and already calling for someones job. Crown me baby) because this entire secondary mess has been one entire shit show for far too long and the TB thing is icing on the cake. I truly don't think there is any legitimate reason you can throw out there as to why he hasn't been on the field more. And I don't understand any of the moves that Cooks has made at all with the safety position either. Bookie hasn't been horrible but you aren't putting him in the best position to succeed. He's clearly meant to be a corner or even a nickle so you move him to safety instead of Motley or Tre Brown (As Josh said on the pod who makes MUCH more sense at the safety spot). I mean @NealKenn had this figured out in his delp. Why is Neal a better coach at putting together a sound and logical depth chart then our coaches? Explain this to me. Someone explain this absolute insanity. And his ineptitude at recruiting safeties is going against him as well. Maybe firing Cooks is a bit extreme but as much as I think Mike is a buffoon, not all of his woes are because of him alone.
1a.) I'm worried about the Bookie thing and I'm not really concerned about him not playing like a five star yet. He's a true freshman and I'm more than willing to give him time. But what I'm worried about is that he has a bunch of eyes on him, including a bunch of recruits we want, who are going to see that he's not really being put in the best position to succeed. Maybe he is the answer at safety but right now I feel like we're playing with fire by not letting him do him. Could be wrong on this but that's just what I see and feel.
2.) Now for the Mike Stoops ripping. I'm not getting into his game plan or how we get shredded on 3 & long nearly every time. Or how we might be one of the worst teams in the country at stopping 4th down attempts. Oh, no. I'm going with a much more simple crucifying of him. Fixing our ****ing tackling. Some of our tackles were missed because the Baylor player made a great move. But as a whole we might be the most technically unsound tackling team in the Big 12 and this has been an issue since he's returned. I know that you can't practice tackling like you use to but if that was the excuse why can other teams tackle right? Our defense probably jumps up a whole ten spots, at a minimum, if we could just tackle right. If Mike put even half the energy he puts into teaching the kids into tackling that he does looking like a god damn spastic moron up in the booth maybe he wouldn't get so upset all the time. This is like your 7th year Mike. I don't care if you have middle schoolers out there talent wise, AT LEAST HAVE THEM FUNDAMENTALLY ****ING SOUND. I don't care if we get beat because a team played better and made some plays. I do care when we get beat because we can't tackle ****ing right. Jimmity Crickets it's infuriating. ****ing fix it. FIX IT.
3.) Bill Bedenbaugh. I know, I know. This seems like a bit of a weird complaint but I think we have to hold all of our coaches accountable. Not just shit all over Mike repeatedly. I think we need to know why Bill refuses to play some of our young guys over the garbage that gets put out there at times. Alvarez and Samia probably shouldn't be starting for us if we're being honest and can't think of a good reason as to why Bedenbaugh won't try someone else. I understand that Hayes doesn't have the experience like them but it's kind of like looking for your first job. No one wants to hire you because you don't have experience but the only way to get experience is to be hired and get a resume. Same thing here. Creed Humphrey should be proof of that. He started off kind of rough but man he's getting better and better each week. I legitimately think Hayes could have the same kind of impact if given time. Yeah he's going to suck or be mediocre at times but taking those lumps now and getting him that experience he needs to shine is something I think we can all agree on would be a good thing going forward. Especially because Samia, who I appreciate with the effort, has had a bad year and doesn't deserve the start. Playing hard and giving effort is great and all but if the production on the field isn't there, it isn't there. And worst thing that happens is that we find out Hayes isn't any good and it lights a fire under Samia's ass to stop playing like ass.
3a.) As a whole our run game blocking has been bad this season. I know that teams are stupidly stacking the box against us a lot but we've had way more missed assignments than I think people wanna admit along with some of our guys just getting bullied by smaller and weaker players at times. This needs to get ironed out. Maybe putting Hayes in fixes that or maybe it makes it worse. Either way I agree with the fellas that it probably gets better once we get a true #1 back. Or maybe we just aren't gonna be as good because we're missing Orlando. Which is possible too.
4.) Lack of movement on the defense. Something that stands out to me a lot is how we're really bad at moving around on defense pre-snap. I know they want to simplify things but I don't think teams have had any issues reading what we're going to do on defense for the most part. Baylor had more movement and disguises than we did and Baylor's ****ing trash on defense. And when we do some pre-snap movement it's usually not disguised at all. Like I think this in a weird way explains our defense as a whole. The other team always knows what we're going to do because we always show our hand or don't want to adapt to try and stop it... Or can't stop it. I swear to god maybe I'm going crazy because of my hatred for Mike but it seems like teams run some of the exact plays against us that they and other teams have ran on us for the last 6 years. It just seems like Mike can't figure out spread offenses, or apparently triple option offenses, to save his life.
Some closing thoughts now that I'm doing ranting. It was an okay game. Defense will get over hyped and mistakes will be overlooked or have excuses made for but I will say they played okay for the most part. I still think the first real offense we play is going to rip our assholes out and shove them down our throats but until we get to that point keep on chugging I guess. Offense is phenomenal as always and Kyler is a superhero at times. Special teams meh. Nothing good and nothing bad to say. Either way I'm sure more stuff will come to me but I want this to be a venting or praising thread for us to come together on and at least have a dialogue. I think Carey hit the nail on the head that the fan base is getting torn to shreds because of Mike and the defense. We try to be unified in whatever we do. Either way I'm here to talk to it out. It's therapy for all of us, let's be real with each other.
With the warning out of the way, let's get into what I think the positives of the team are right now;
1.) I think we have the best receiving corp in the country and I don't think it's particularly close. Like damn, are Simmons and Gundy not two of the best coaches in the country at what they do? It seems like for as long as I can remember we've always had 'The Guy' as our receiver and then a bunch of garbage around him. Maybe you'll get a situation where you have two really good guys on the team at once but one is an upperclassman and the other is a freshman who isn't there yet. So for us to have two receivers that anyone in the country would kill for is something in it of itself and something we should be celebrating. They're so fundamentally sound as well. They don't take unnecessary tackles if they don't have to and they block very well. Our blocking with our WR's is criminally underrated. Those guys should be getting pats on the back more for that. And it's not just our go to guys that are amazing because we have some secondary guys that are coming along nicely and demanding attention like Lee Morris & Calcutta. And they are all developing at a very nice pace and turning into being all around receivers. Hollywood has improved to the point where I'd argue he's our most improved player so far this season. Even Lamb took a pretty step forward. I think Simmons could have an argument made for him that he's our best assistant coach. It'd be a really interesting argument to see played out between him and Bedenbaugh.
1a.) I know it was Baylor and I know their secondary was shit. But this receiving corp has been consistent no matter who they've played when they've gotten their opportunities. We need to appreciate them while we can. Especially Hollywood because that kind of speed is special. Also I know that Lamb doesn't have crazy speed and Baylor is probably the only school in the Big 12 he can break off a run like that against, but credit to Wiley. Lamb is definitely faster than what he was when he first got here.
2.) Kyler Murray is really ****ing good. It's almost impossible to follow up what Baker did because of how high he set the bar but we need to appreciate how special of a player he is and how while he might be reaching the bar he's as close to it as one can get. Seriously the strides he's taken as a QB since being with the Aggies is absolutely incredible. He's definitely not flawless but man I think he's a top 3 QB in the country right now with Grier and Tua. What he's doing is something that gets overlooked because of how much we shit all over the defense all the time. You've gotta think that if he keeps this up that Riley is going to get to a point where he can walk into any kids house anywhere on the planet and convince them to come play QB for him. It's insane how much of a QB whisperer he is. Or appears to be. We could just caught lightning in a bottle with the talent though I highly suspect Riley had something to do with molding it.
3.) Kenneth Murray. He didn't have the greatest game in the world against Baylor but I've been high on him for a long time. I thought he got wrongly crucified for a lot of what happened last season. He was a true freshman playing the MLB spot for the first time in his career. Every mistake he made last season was on Mike Stoops & Tim Kish for letting a true freshman start at the Mike spot when he's never played that spot before in his life. Murray earned a pass harder than anyone I've ever seen for mistakes last season because he should not have been in the position he was in. Especially because he got in over his head a couple of times last season, cough Rose Bowl cough, but the coaches just threw him out there to wolves. I guess it was to speed up his development and we had no one else but Jesus that situation was terrible.... Anyway he's coming along at a very nice pace. I think he's turning into someone who could be a possible All American if everything goes right for him when he's a senior. I'm really happy with his pace and I won't lie, I smile every time I see the Neck Roll. I appreciate that out of him. Still does some stuff wrong but he's getting better every week it seems like.
4.) Tim Kish. He's been a punching bag, rightfully so and wrongfully so at times, for the most part but I'll give credit where credit is do. Our LB's have played really well this year so far outside of the Army game. I'm not gonna go overboard because **** him and **** Mike.... But tip of the cap to him for the performance so far this season.
Now for the whiny bitchy moaning part from me. If you wanna check out and not read any further I completely understand. But here we go, time for the shit list of things I don't like;
1.) Tre Brown and Ronnie Perkins. Why are they on here you ask? Because Mike, Thibs, and Cooks have some serious explaining to do as to why they haven't been playing more. It's absolutely infuriating and mystifying that they haven't been out on the field more. Ronnie Perkins looks like 'The Guy' on our defensive line already. You're telling me you couldn't get him out on the field more against ****ing ISU and ARMY of all teams? And Tre Brown. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. I think Cooks should lose his job at the end of the season (Woo first negative point I'm making and already calling for someones job. Crown me baby) because this entire secondary mess has been one entire shit show for far too long and the TB thing is icing on the cake. I truly don't think there is any legitimate reason you can throw out there as to why he hasn't been on the field more. And I don't understand any of the moves that Cooks has made at all with the safety position either. Bookie hasn't been horrible but you aren't putting him in the best position to succeed. He's clearly meant to be a corner or even a nickle so you move him to safety instead of Motley or Tre Brown (As Josh said on the pod who makes MUCH more sense at the safety spot). I mean @NealKenn had this figured out in his delp. Why is Neal a better coach at putting together a sound and logical depth chart then our coaches? Explain this to me. Someone explain this absolute insanity. And his ineptitude at recruiting safeties is going against him as well. Maybe firing Cooks is a bit extreme but as much as I think Mike is a buffoon, not all of his woes are because of him alone.
1a.) I'm worried about the Bookie thing and I'm not really concerned about him not playing like a five star yet. He's a true freshman and I'm more than willing to give him time. But what I'm worried about is that he has a bunch of eyes on him, including a bunch of recruits we want, who are going to see that he's not really being put in the best position to succeed. Maybe he is the answer at safety but right now I feel like we're playing with fire by not letting him do him. Could be wrong on this but that's just what I see and feel.
2.) Now for the Mike Stoops ripping. I'm not getting into his game plan or how we get shredded on 3 & long nearly every time. Or how we might be one of the worst teams in the country at stopping 4th down attempts. Oh, no. I'm going with a much more simple crucifying of him. Fixing our ****ing tackling. Some of our tackles were missed because the Baylor player made a great move. But as a whole we might be the most technically unsound tackling team in the Big 12 and this has been an issue since he's returned. I know that you can't practice tackling like you use to but if that was the excuse why can other teams tackle right? Our defense probably jumps up a whole ten spots, at a minimum, if we could just tackle right. If Mike put even half the energy he puts into teaching the kids into tackling that he does looking like a god damn spastic moron up in the booth maybe he wouldn't get so upset all the time. This is like your 7th year Mike. I don't care if you have middle schoolers out there talent wise, AT LEAST HAVE THEM FUNDAMENTALLY ****ING SOUND. I don't care if we get beat because a team played better and made some plays. I do care when we get beat because we can't tackle ****ing right. Jimmity Crickets it's infuriating. ****ing fix it. FIX IT.
3.) Bill Bedenbaugh. I know, I know. This seems like a bit of a weird complaint but I think we have to hold all of our coaches accountable. Not just shit all over Mike repeatedly. I think we need to know why Bill refuses to play some of our young guys over the garbage that gets put out there at times. Alvarez and Samia probably shouldn't be starting for us if we're being honest and can't think of a good reason as to why Bedenbaugh won't try someone else. I understand that Hayes doesn't have the experience like them but it's kind of like looking for your first job. No one wants to hire you because you don't have experience but the only way to get experience is to be hired and get a resume. Same thing here. Creed Humphrey should be proof of that. He started off kind of rough but man he's getting better and better each week. I legitimately think Hayes could have the same kind of impact if given time. Yeah he's going to suck or be mediocre at times but taking those lumps now and getting him that experience he needs to shine is something I think we can all agree on would be a good thing going forward. Especially because Samia, who I appreciate with the effort, has had a bad year and doesn't deserve the start. Playing hard and giving effort is great and all but if the production on the field isn't there, it isn't there. And worst thing that happens is that we find out Hayes isn't any good and it lights a fire under Samia's ass to stop playing like ass.
3a.) As a whole our run game blocking has been bad this season. I know that teams are stupidly stacking the box against us a lot but we've had way more missed assignments than I think people wanna admit along with some of our guys just getting bullied by smaller and weaker players at times. This needs to get ironed out. Maybe putting Hayes in fixes that or maybe it makes it worse. Either way I agree with the fellas that it probably gets better once we get a true #1 back. Or maybe we just aren't gonna be as good because we're missing Orlando. Which is possible too.
4.) Lack of movement on the defense. Something that stands out to me a lot is how we're really bad at moving around on defense pre-snap. I know they want to simplify things but I don't think teams have had any issues reading what we're going to do on defense for the most part. Baylor had more movement and disguises than we did and Baylor's ****ing trash on defense. And when we do some pre-snap movement it's usually not disguised at all. Like I think this in a weird way explains our defense as a whole. The other team always knows what we're going to do because we always show our hand or don't want to adapt to try and stop it... Or can't stop it. I swear to god maybe I'm going crazy because of my hatred for Mike but it seems like teams run some of the exact plays against us that they and other teams have ran on us for the last 6 years. It just seems like Mike can't figure out spread offenses, or apparently triple option offenses, to save his life.
Some closing thoughts now that I'm doing ranting. It was an okay game. Defense will get over hyped and mistakes will be overlooked or have excuses made for but I will say they played okay for the most part. I still think the first real offense we play is going to rip our assholes out and shove them down our throats but until we get to that point keep on chugging I guess. Offense is phenomenal as always and Kyler is a superhero at times. Special teams meh. Nothing good and nothing bad to say. Either way I'm sure more stuff will come to me but I want this to be a venting or praising thread for us to come together on and at least have a dialogue. I think Carey hit the nail on the head that the fan base is getting torn to shreds because of Mike and the defense. We try to be unified in whatever we do. Either way I'm here to talk to it out. It's therapy for all of us, let's be real with each other.
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