What's the line on the ND/tu game?
Is it out yet ??
Is it out yet ??
quote:70,000 sips leaving by the 3rd quarter.
What's the line on the ND/tu game?
quote:Where??
Fighting Irish -3.5. Load up !
quote:Uhhm, this is wishful thinking:
While none of the sources I've talked to have been willing to state for a fact that they know Swoopes will start the opener, the intel is trending in that direction. It's all estimated guesses that Charlie Strong will go with the senior, but multiple sources with knowledge of the situation have told me they have been given an indication it will be Swoopes who takes the first snap. No matter how you slice it, Swoopes starting against the Fighting Irish for the second year in a row is a real possibility. It's one Longhorn fans need to wrap their heads around if they haven't already.
There are few different ways to look at this situation, one being, if indeed Buechele has been the better quarterback, why would Swoopes start? I'm told, at worst, this is a neck-and-neck race with Buechele and Swoopes trading days as to which quarterback looks better. At best (as far as Buechele is concerned), there's nothing Buechele has done in this camp that's caused him to slip from his standing coming out of spring, which had him appearing to be the frontrunner for the job. However, it sounds like Swoopes is able to operate within the system. His experience and the fact that he's a guy the players in the locker room respect are among reasons why the senior with a 6-8 career record as a starter is being talked about as the possible starting quarterback against the Fighting Irish.
quote:
Furthermore, this offense allows Swoopes to play faster and not have to go through a ton of progressions, which a source told me prior to spring practice made it plausible that Swoopes could have a chance to win the race. I'm told the staff remains intrigued by his arm strength and his ability to make all of the throws in the offense in addition to the fact that he's a bigger body. All of the potential quarterback runs would be in play with Swoopes on the field. This is where the layers to the story come into play.
quote:And then there's this:
First, the main reason why Swoopes continues to get an equal number of reps to Buechele (some days more, some days less, according to sources) is that Buechele's size, or lack thereof, is a major concern for the staff. The quarterback, no matter who's behind center, is going to be exposed and vulnerable at times in this offense and Buechele holding up is something I'm told the staff is looking to guard against since it is the kind of thing that could derail a season. Second, there's the matter of the stage of starting against Notre Dame being too big for Buechele.
However, I talked to one team source who laid it contrary to how most would view it (if Swoopes starts, and assuming his leash is very short, Buechele could come in and be in a spot where there would be less pressure). The source I talked to said Buechele starting the game at home, where he would have the overwhelming majority of the 100,000-plus crowd behind him, is a much more favorable situation than starting on the road. Plus, if Swoopes were to struggle and give way to Buechele, would that put more pressure on Buechele to be the hero who has to rally the Longhorns from an early deficit? At the end of the day, everyone I've talked to has been in unanimous agreement with the opinion that Buechele's mental makeup is good enough that he'd be able to bounce back from a rough outing. There seems to be little doubt about that inside the building based on what I've heard.
quote:Yeah, because having two QBs is better than one, right?
. If Swoopes starts, does it really matter? One person I spoke to told me that regardless of who starts everyone will be able to tell who the better option is and who the coaches favor based on which quarterback is in the game at key moments, particularly in the fourth quarter. That quarterback, based on what I've gathered to this point, would be Buechele. It's also been suggested that while most of the conversations have been about Swoopes as a situational player and Buechele as the conventional quarterback, the staff could wind up treating this as a true quarterback system. That would mean whomever has the hot hand would, at some point, take a hold of the job within the flow of the game.
quote:And one where pretty much everybody besides Strong knows the ending.
The bottom line is, of the many sources I've talked, nobody knows for sure what Strong and Sterlin Gilbert will do. Either this is the most elaborate misdirection plot we've seen in a quarterback competition in some time or Swoopes being named the starter is something that is a very real possibility and things are starting to trend in that direction. At this point we'll all find out for sure in 12 days who will take the first snap. But the battle to determine who the best option is for the team going forward still might not be decided and the first snap against Notre Dame could be another chapter in what might be an unexpectedly long book.
quote:There aren't going to be any key moments in the fourth quarter.
who the coaches favor based on which quarterback is in the game at key moments, particularly in the fourth quarter.
quote:He already did....didn't you see the Movado?
Charlie can call his friend for some advice.
quote:I also think that Strong just runs that loose of ship. Just goes with the flow, whatever it is that day and who has his ear.
Howe does a good job covering all bases in case he's wrong.
Has a "source" for each side.
quote:First off.... (100,000-plus crowd)....yeah that's not gonna happen. May be close...season opener....and it's the only name opponent season ticket holders have on that ****ty home slate.
Today's long-winded propaganda from Howe (via the shag):quote:Uhhm, this is wishful thinking:
While none of the sources I've talked to have been willing to state for a fact that they know Swoopes will start the opener, the intel is trending in that direction. It's all estimated guesses that Charlie Strong will go with the senior, but multiple sources with knowledge of the situation have told me they have been given an indication it will be Swoopes who takes the first snap. No matter how you slice it, Swoopes starting against the Fighting Irish for the second year in a row is a real possibility. It's one Longhorn fans need to wrap their heads around if they haven't already.
There are few different ways to look at this situation, one being, if indeed Buechele has been the better quarterback, why would Swoopes start? I'm told, at worst, this is a neck-and-neck race with Buechele and Swoopes trading days as to which quarterback looks better. At best (as far as Buechele is concerned), there's nothing Buechele has done in this camp that's caused him to slip from his standing coming out of spring, which had him appearing to be the frontrunner for the job. However, it sounds like Swoopes is able to operate within the system. His experience and the fact that he's a guy the players in the locker room respect are among reasons why the senior with a 6-8 career record as a starter is being talked about as the possible starting quarterback against the Fighting Irish.quote:
Furthermore, this offense allows Swoopes to play faster and not have to go through a ton of progressions, which a source told me prior to spring practice made it plausible that Swoopes could have a chance to win the race. I'm told the staff remains intrigued by his arm strength and his ability to make all of the throws in the offense in addition to the fact that he's a bigger body. All of the potential quarterback runs would be in play with Swoopes on the field. This is where the layers to the story come into play.quote:And then there's this:
First, the main reason why Swoopes continues to get an equal number of reps to Buechele (some days more, some days less, according to sources) is that Buechele's size, or lack thereof, is a major concern for the staff. The quarterback, no matter who's behind center, is going to be exposed and vulnerable at times in this offense and Buechele holding up is something I'm told the staff is looking to guard against since it is the kind of thing that could derail a season. Second, there's the matter of the stage of starting against Notre Dame being too big for Buechele.
However, I talked to one team source who laid it contrary to how most would view it (if Swoopes starts, and assuming his leash is very short, Buechele could come in and be in a spot where there would be less pressure). The source I talked to said Buechele starting the game at home, where he would have the overwhelming majority of the 100,000-plus crowd behind him, is a much more favorable situation than starting on the road. Plus, if Swoopes were to struggle and give way to Buechele, would that put more pressure on Buechele to be the hero who has to rally the Longhorns from an early deficit? At the end of the day, everyone I've talked to has been in unanimous agreement with the opinion that Buechele's mental makeup is good enough that he'd be able to bounce back from a rough outing. There seems to be little doubt about that inside the building based on what I've heard.quote:Yeah, because having two QBs is better than one, right?
. If Swoopes starts, does it really matter? One person I spoke to told me that regardless of who starts everyone will be able to tell who the better option is and who the coaches favor based on which quarterback is in the game at key moments, particularly in the fourth quarter. That quarterback, based on what I've gathered to this point, would be Buechele. It's also been suggested that while most of the conversations have been about Swoopes as a situational player and Buechele as the conventional quarterback, the staff could wind up treating this as a true quarterback system. That would mean whomever has the hot hand would, at some point, take a hold of the job within the flow of the game.quote:And one where pretty much everybody besides Strong knows the ending.
The bottom line is, of the many sources I've talked, nobody knows for sure what Strong and Sterlin Gilbert will do. Either this is the most elaborate misdirection plot we've seen in a quarterback competition in some time or Swoopes being named the starter is something that is a very real possibility and things are starting to trend in that direction. At this point we'll all find out for sure in 12 days who will take the first snap. But the battle to determine who the best option is for the team going forward still might not be decided and the first snap against Notre Dame could be another chapter in what might be an unexpectedly long book.
LOL.
quote:quote:Only one starter for ND was involved, the rest are bench warmers or were injured and not expected to play for a month or two.
With the tu secret QB and the ND players getting in trouble for off the field shenanigans, tu should win that game.
Swoopes is a physical specimen. On paper he looks like he would be the second coming of Vince Young. In reality he has a mental disconnect from snap to executing the play. I used to think it was an offensive system problem. And to be fair, Swoopes has had 4 different OCs since he's been there. Going from a Harsin/Applewhite to a Watson (West Coast), then Norvell and now Gilbert/Briles' style, one would think something would work for him.
Adding to Swoopes problems is an unorganized mess at O-line whether from critical injuries or jumbled blocking schemes. Changing offensive systems changes the blocking schemes. Once again they have lost their center to injury. Shackelford might be back for the ND game, but he won't have been practicing with the line all of the time before the game.
When it came out that Gilbert really doesn't have a playbook and doesn't script series, it didn't bode well for Swoopes. Being able to read defenses and react accordingly isn't in his wheelhouse. The fact that he is even in the talk for being named the starter tells me they have no better options. The Swoopes/Heard tandem QB system worked even more poorly than our Kyle/Kyler exercise in schizophrenia last year.
Trotting out a true freshman in Buechele but then going to Swoopes too will not be pretty. If Swoopes is only on the field for the so-called "18 wheeler" package, the defense will know just what to do to stop him. And it ain't that hard to do.
quote:
If Texas fans questioned a first-round Whitewright exit to Lone Oak in last fall's high school playoffs for Tyrone Swoopes, the doubters are surely out in full force now after a 1-9 season to end his high school career