Texas

[LZH]

I honestly don't think Strong will do well at Texas.  You have to be part politician for that gig, and Strong isn't one....he's a coach.

He has already rubbed some boosters the wrong way with his quick exit from a BBQ meet-and-greet.

[rtr]

Texas has lost their identity.

[MiHogsMi]

Boy do I remember the volume of dummies on this forum saying Texas A & M joining the SEC would not change a thing in Texas.  In fact, their joining the SEC would only help Arkansas, so said they.

A & M is benefiting in recruiting by the scheme they run, their coach's perceived status and being in the SEC.  Baylor and TCU...are benefiting in recruiting and winning by scheme, great coaches and momentum.

I hope we catch Texas in the dumps for the bowl game as their roster is full of talent. If they get their shyte together, and I hope they never do, make NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT.....Texas is a sleeping giant in the wings.  Stay humble my friends.

[Hoggish1]

Darrell Royal could select the players he wanted, and have a national championship class.  Charlie Strong does not have the same advantage.  He has to fight for the group that Royal got automatically.  The playing field has changed.  Charlie Strong will have to adjust, adapt, and work much harder than his predisessors.   This is not your Daddy's Texas.   

Texas is just not what it used to be.

Mac Brown could get the players he wanted, but the players didn't play with an attitude.

Strong will get a different kind of player there.  They will be tough minded, but it will take a few years for him to completely make the transition from the way things got after all those years of entitlement.

[HoggusMaximus]

Strong has ties with florida which if given the chance. And by given the chance I mean legitimate chance he would do great things at texas. Give the man 4 years and things will look different.

[East TN HAWG]

Boy do I remember the volume of dummies on this forum saying Texas A & M joining the SEC would not change a thing in Texas.  In fact, their joining the SEC would only help Arkansas, so said they.

I believe A&M has helped AR and the rest of the SEC.  It has allowed the SEC to gain a foot hold in the state of Texas.  A$M has by far benefited the most just like we did a few years back.  That rise has has led to the detriment of Texas.  The longer Texas stays down; the harder it is to get back up. (I.e our basketball program) This has helped in that.

For us it's another strong team.  With our current schedule already, it probaly does not really matter.  It led to the SEC Network which I love. 

It certainly has not hurt us. We've only lost a couple of recruits, to them.  Yes, they beat us, but we were down and an SEC east team would have probaly beat us anyway. 

AM joining was good for us, and bad for Texas.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

The swagger is gone.  The arrogance has  been supplanted with a resignation that their recent coaching hire is unproven and unlikely.   He doesn't wear the boots of Texas past.  Everything has changed.  For the first time in their program's history, there is uncertainty.  Doubt.  Lack of confidenceS.  Change.  For better or worse-who knows?

Strong is a good coach-no doubt.  The question is-is he a good fit for Texas?   Is he capable of carrying on the tradition of Texas selecting the top 25 recruits in state, or has TAM, with its SEC stamp, been able to cut into that historical Texas lock of the top players in the top producing state of college football players? 

Is there a chink in the armour-like Notre Dame?  Is there a changing of the guard?  Darrell Royal could select the players he wanted, and have a national championship class.  Charlie Strong does not have the same advantage.  He has to fight for the group that Royal got automatically.  The playing field has changed.  Charlie Strong will have to adjust, adapt, and work much harder than his predisessors.   This is not your Daddy's Texas.   

Texas is just not what it used to be.

For what it is worth, comparison's are fairly equal in terms of results based on averages over the past 7 P-5 opponents that each team has faced.

Here is our Offense vs. their Defense.

                         Arkansas        Texas
                          Offense        Defense
Rush Att                  40               34
Rush Yds                 153             136
Rush P/Att               3.8              4.0
Rush TD's P/Gm         1.4              1.4
Fumbles                   1.1              0.7
Pass Att                  32.9            37.7
Pass Compl              17.6            24.0
Compl %                  53.5            63.6
Pass Yds                 204.7          223.1
Per Att                     6.2             5.9
Per Compl                11.7             9.3
Pass TD's P/Gm          1.1             1.0
INT's                        .57             .71

SOS                      #1-.681     #41-.549

For what it is worth, comparison's are fairly equal in terms of results based on averages over the past 7 P-5 opponents that each team has faced.

And here is our Defense vs. their Offense.

                         Arkansas         Texas
                          Defense        Offense
Rush Att                 34.1             39.3
Rush Yds                113.6           158.9
Rush P/Att               3.3               4.0
Rush TD's P/Gm         .86               1.7
Fumbles                   1.1               0.9
Pass Att                  29.7             32.3
Pass Compl              15.7             18.9
Compl %                  52.9             58.4
Pass Yds                 237.4           231.1
Per Att                     8.0              7.2
Per Compl                15.7             18.9
Pass TD's P/Gm          1.3               1.1
INT's                        1.0               1.0

SOS                      #1-.681     #41-.549

Texas doesn't hold the stature that they once did, but aside from playing in different conferences, we are relatively equal in terms of production as teams, with a few exceptions.

[BENTON PIGGEE]

Strong has ties with florida which if given the chance. And by given the chance I mean legitimate chance he would do great things at texas. Give the man 4 years and things will look different.

[hoglady]

It seems we have claims AR is more talented than Texas and many seem to think we should win vs Texas.  Why?  Minus last year, Texas has dominated us in recruiting rankings.  Texas wasn't half the dumpster fire rebuild that AR has been.  Texas has all kinds of tradition and success as a program.

We might be more talented in certain positions but not likely as a team.  They are bowl eligible same as us and our record the past few years doesn't dictate a should win game.

Seems like we don't fare very well in these games we feel like we should win.  Georgia was a win, Mizzou was the most likely win four games from end of season, Clemson was a sure win in BB.

I like our chances but I don't see them as being better than Texas chances.  Congrats to hogs for reaching a bowl.  Anything more is gravy!

Gotta disagree with you about Texas not being a dumpster fire.
Strong has kicked 9 players off that team. They had a complete culture shock when Strong walked through the door. 
We have more talent at the skill positions than Texas does. I don't care what type of rankings Texas had in recruiting - their offense is a total complete mess.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Gotta disagree with you about Texas not being a dumpster fire.
Strong has kicked 9 players off that team. They had a complete culture shock when Strong walked through the door. 
We have more talent at the skill positions than Texas does. I don't care what type of rankings Texas had in recruiting - their offense is a total complete mess.

I agree.  But...with a young QB like that and a team just learning a system, at some point it can "click" and they can take a giant leap forward.  We really saw that happen last season prior to the MSU and LSU games with our team.  If Swoop comes out and hits a few early passes and gains some confidence, then it could make a huge difference in the game. 

However, just like you, I keep hearing all this talk about how they have more talent.  Overall...that's probably accurate.  BUT...so did LSU and Ole Miss.  It's a good barometer for the long term success of your program, but year to year...it's NOT the final say in how successful a team will be.

With a healthy BA, I think we beat Mizzou.  I hope BB learned a lesson in that game, and that is that he has to trust his back ups.  Austin had enough experience to go in and play, and I think the team would have instinctively ramped it up a notch, and I think we could have won the game with AA at the helm.  We'll never know...but BA was so completely ineffective, that they should have at least tried AA.  If it was a nightmare...put BA back in there. 

Sorry for the tangent.  I think we'll beat Texas worse than most people think.  Their team is not ready for the pounding we're going to bring, and we have kids who have been in this system for awhile and know what to do.   

[Pig In The City]

Listen, I am a huge CBB supporter but until we learn to play two halves of football on offense, we are not going to win many games regardless of the opponent.  Truth be told, our offense sucks and until it doesn't we are crap canned in games.  We have had two years to improve offensively and I have not seen it.  I thought we were about to turn a corner late in the season and then we didn't.  Year three better correct this or the Hogs are in a world of trouble.

[East Clintwood]

Is BA going to be healthy for this game?  Or will one knee to the back put him right back in severe pain again?

[MuskogeeHogFan]

Gotta disagree with you about Texas not being a dumpster fire.
Strong has kicked 9 players off that team. They had a complete culture shock when Strong walked through the door. 
We have more talent at the skill positions than Texas does. I don't care what type of rankings Texas had in recruiting - their offense is a total complete mess.

Yes, they are having problems offensively and that hinders them. But they have a good defense and probably better than it appears in terms of numbers because their offense doesn't help them much. Still, in a conference where passing is the emphasis for the most part (as a conference they average 274 yards per game, where half of the conference averages 326 yds per game) Texas allows an average of only 186.3 yds per game passing.

So they do possess the ability to potentially make us one dimensional, and that has rarely worked out well for us.

I'm not saying that they are going to beat us, but I do think that if we are thinking that because we feel that they have a "dumpster fire" to deal with that Strong won't bring them ready to compete, with a month to prepare, we may only be fooling ourselves.

I sincerely hope that we blow their doors off and win by 28-35 points, but I think this may end up being a much closer game than many think it is going to be.

[BENTON PIGGEE]

If UT hasn't played like a team in 12 regular season games, they're not going to play like a team in game 13.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

If UT hasn't played like a team in 12 regular season games, they're not going to play like a team in game 13.

OK.

[hoglady]

Yes, they are having problems offensively and that hinders them. But they have a good defense and probably better than it appears in terms of numbers because their offense doesn't help them much. Still, in a conference where passing is the emphasis for the most part (as a conference they average 274 yards per game, where half of the conference averages 326 yds per game) Texas allows an average of only 186.3 yds per game passing.

So they do possess the ability to potentially make us one dimensional, and that has rarely worked out well for us.

I'm not saying that they are going to beat us, but I do think that if we are thinking that because we feel that they have a "dumpster fire" to deal with that Strong won't bring them ready to compete, with a month to prepare, we may only be fooling ourselves.

I sincerely hope that we blow their doors off and win by 28-35 points, but I think this may end up being a much closer game than many think it is going to be.

I didn't mean that Texas wouldn't compete.
I meant that Strong has faced a tough task - as tough as Beliema faced here.
I don't know whether we beat them or not.
If we come ready to play we probably will win but if it's a close game who knows.
We haven't faired very well in close games this year.

[Dominicanhog]

Yes, they are having problems offensively and that hinders them. But they have a good defense and probably better than it appears in terms of numbers because their offense doesn't help them much. Still, in a conference where passing is the emphasis for the most part (as a conference they average 274 yards per game, where half of the conference averages 326 yds per game) Texas allows an average of only 186.3 yds per game passing.

So they do possess the ability to potentially make us one dimensional, and that has rarely worked out well for us.

I'm not saying that they are going to beat us, but I do think that if we are thinking that because we feel that they have a "dumpster fire" to deal with that Strong won't bring them ready to compete, with a month to prepare, we may only be fooling ourselves.

I sincerely hope that we blow their doors off and win by 28-35 points, but I think this may end up being a much closer game than many think it is going to be.

I'm scared to death of this game and stated i would have rather played someone else.. Texas is going to put a lot of highly rated and good football players on the field.. I'm always nervous when our fans think a game is a forgone conclusion.

The Eor in me does not fell good about this game.. I really hope I'm wrong, which I am often.

I'll really be nervous if the game is close in the 4th, our record and history don't bode well in that case.

[rtr]

Texas has many problems as a program but they also have strengths to draw on that  very very few can match.  They played in the BCSCG just 5 years ago, lets remember.  So don't count them out.

DeLoss Dodds did take a huge gamble on the Longhorn Network and in the process destroyed the Big 12.  If they don't recover, that will be the salient moment everyone will point to.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I'm scared to death of this game and stated i would have rather played someone else.. Texas is going to put a lot of highly rated and good football players on the field.. I'm always nervous when our fans think a game is a forgone conclusion.

The Eor in me does not fell good about this game.. I really hope I'm wrong, which I am often.

I'll really be nervous if the game is close in the 4th, our record and history don't bode well in that case.

Just keep in mind that Texas is a lot like us, in terms of how Strong has taken control of the program and is re-invigorating the program in terms of overall expectations. We scared the heck out of Miss St and LSU last year at the end of what most would say was a disappointing season and but for a few plays against Rutgers, Miss St and LSU, we might have been 6-6 last season.

Texas isn't that far away from being similarly good in a similar situation.

We can't take them for granted.

[Tejano Jawg]

Any team can beat you on any given game day! Do not take any team litely! Lace shoe strings tight and play smash mouth football.

This is my only concern. Up to now, I think our coaching staff has done a great job preparing us for the weaker opponents. (And by weaker, I mean anyone not in the SEC.)

Looking at Texas' results this year would make most think we can beat them relatively comfortably. However, they have hung with some people...they have a couple good RBs and a decent D. No question, we'll have to play hard like we have all year. I just don't want the Horns having success early. Don't want them generating any momentum.

[Fayettechill14]

IIRC Bielema is 42-0 when favored by 10+ points. We're not quite there yet, but his teams rarely lose as favorites.

[Rison Razor Hog]

IIRC Bielema is 42-0 when favored by 10+ points. We're not quite there yet, but his teams rarely lose as favorites.

I hope the statistics angle gives us the edge!

:razorback:  :razorback:  :razorback: GHG! WPS! Put an elbow to Texas' throat!    

[Locutus_of_Boar]

Ever since 1894 Texas has had the better recruits.  As long as recruiting services depend on a significant portion of 25 million Texans forking over money to be reassured of that illusion they will always have better recruits whoever they sign.

As has been the case with almost every game this year, it is Arkansas talent and Arkansas coaches who control whether Texas talent will have a Happy New Year or not.

[urkillnmesmalls]

Just keep in mind that Texas is a lot like us, in terms of how Strong has taken control of the program and is re-invigorating the program in terms of overall expectations. We scared the heck out of Miss St and LSU last year at the end of what most would say was a disappointing season and but for a few plays against Rutgers, Miss St and LSU, we might have been 6-6 last season.

Texas isn't that far away from being similarly good in a similar situation.

We can't take them for granted.

One thing that I do like is that I don't think CBB will back off of our physical approach ONE iota for his bowl game's practices.  We played very physical against KSU in the Cotton Bowl, and it seemed like they had someone being carted off every other play.  But...that's one of the few times I can recall us ever really hammering the opposition in the bowl game. 

No way they should look past Texas.  I think TCU is as good as anyone, and up until that point...UT was showing a LOT of improvement.  For a young team learning a new system, 3 weeks preparation can go a long way. 

It's not anything remotely approaching a "must win," but I'll admit that it would certainly slow our momentum a little. 

[Melorock089]

IIRC Bielema is 42-0 when favored by 10+ points. We're not quite there yet, but his teams rarely lose as favorites.

We lost as a favorite to Mizzou I think.

[WorfHog]

We lost as a favorite to Mizzou I think.

We weren't a 10 point favorite.

[MuskogeeHogFan]

We lost as a favorite to Mizzou I think.

I hate to bring up the obvious and remind all the naysayers, but playing an injured QB who couldn't effectively throw the ball, kinda makes a big difference.

[Melorock089]

I hate to bring up the obvious and remind all the naysayers, but playing an injured QB who couldn't effectively throw the ball, kinda makes a big difference.

I'm neither a naysayer or trying to insinuate anything.

[Rison Razor Hog]

We lost as a favorite to Mizzou I think.

I hate to bring up the obvious and remind all the naysayers, but playing an injured QB who couldn't effectively throw the ball, kinda makes a big difference.

I'm neither a naysayer or trying to insinuate anything.

I reckon that must sting a bit, otherwise, no rebuttal needed. Bachman-Turner Overdrive had a song I heard once, "Take It Like A Man."

[Melorock089]

Drama out of nothing.

Go Hogville, go.

[Hoggish1]

If UT hasn't played like a team in 12 regular season games, they're not going to play like a team in game 13.

Have you read the thread?

Several have said they are improving and are an improved team coming into this bowl.

IT won't be an easy win.  We will have to kick them in the @ss and do it for four quarters.

[Hoggish1]

I hate to bring up the obvious and remind all the naysayers, but playing an injured QB who couldn't effectively throw the ball, kinda makes a big difference.

You are right.  We lost by seven late with an injured QB who could not follow through and thus, threw everything high.  The week before we preserved the win with the backup. 

Nobody has yet explained the thinking behind keeping someone at QB who allowed the D to get worn down late with to many 3 and outs.

[BENTON PIGGEE]

Have you read the thread?

Several have said they are improving and are an improved team coming into this bowl.

IT won't be an easy win.  We will have to kick them in the @ss and do it for four quarters.

You're probably right. They had a good 3-game stretch in November with wins over WVA, Okie Light and Tech. Then the lost by 28 to TCU to end the season. The games I saw them play they looked out of sync. I think we are better than they are and play together as a team better. I think we will win and it may not be close.

[hoglady]

We weren't a 10 point favorite.

Beliema's in a different world now - those days are gone.
There will be few if any games in the SEC or bowl match ups where we will be a 10 point favorite. That spread for us will be a couple of annual non conference creampuffs.

[razorbackkid]

Five, six or seven of those 7-8 minutes drives by Arkansas will hurt Texas.  Throw in 3 or 4 three and outs for the Texas offense and this game could get ugly. 

Barring complete break down by our special teams, I don't see Texas getting in Arkansas territory very often and they may not ever get into the red zone.

:razorback:

[DeltaBoy]

If Charlie Strong can't fix them they are done.