O and D Line issues are bad news....

I’m not sure either one is really that weak. I would bet that this seasons players out perform last seasons players. The OL will miss Carter no doubt but there are some really good players to take up the slack. I think the defense will be just fine if not better. Tuberville is playing the team down to the media and fans in small statements but I seriously doubt Tech doesn’t make huge strides in 2010. This team will be ready in the fall and the defense will be a great deal faster and smarter attacking the ball. In the end Tuberville doesn’t want anybody thinking he inherited a perfect team. Smart move on his behalf. He will stay neutral until we beat Texas next season on national TV.

CTT, Brown and Willis are smart. They are floating the red herrings now. Maybe the lines aren’t where they want them yet, but that doesn’t mean they are bad or thin. It means they want strength and speed to be built up between now and August and they are not going to come out and tell UT that we’re strong, fast and deep.
It also tells the players that they are not as good as they may think they are without insulting their significant others ( though they may be vertically challenged and dyslexically anorexic.) (One of my favorite lines from the Pirate by the way!)

I’m not buying into all the “weakness” the new coaching staff is claiming we have. It, to me, sounds like what some of y’all are saying.. That they’re trying to make us sound likea wounded rabbit and when the coyotes (UT & other foes) show up to eat; suddenly we’re a grizzly bear. I think it’s smart on their part, but man it’s getting old for us fans hearing the negativity day in and day out.

…all the coach-speak and just look at the bare facts, North Austin is correct that we have some huge unknowns for next year.

On O-line, we are in the same position we were last year with three starters being replaced, perhaps a little better because Keown at center has some game experience. It took us 6-7 games last year to settle in on a group of regular starters on the left side, and the QB injury issues all happened during that stretch (as did the inability to run at all). Granted, injuries complicated things last year, but that’s just a variable that may or may not come into play any given year. Plus we have the youngest OC in D-1 (I think that’s right) and a coach with just one year’s experience running the spread. Still, if we can get the O-line up and running I feel pretty good because of the experience of the other players.

On defense, Whitlock is the only returning starter on the line. The two new JUCO DEs look good on paper, but we’ve had that in the past and it sometimes blew up in our faces. Between the new defensive scheme and many of the returning backfield players changing positions, it is very hard to tell exactly what we have. OTOH, I believe our coaching staff on defense is the best we’ve ever had, and by next fall they should be able to realistically evaluate which schemes will work best with the players we have available.

Personally, I’m trying to be optimistic. If everything falls into place just right, we could have a great season coming up. We’ll just have to wait until SMU and NM to see what we really have. Here’s hoping we don’t have that sinking feeling we had last year after the first two games.

not because of what any coach has said, but because of what I saw last season. We replaced center, guard, tackle and it took almost half the season before the new line jelled. Moore was moving people around left and right and it came down to the guys who were the most experienced anyway.

Same deal is happening this year on the O.

The defense, if looked at from last season, may have more depth than we think albeit not proven in game time, I was amazed at the DL last season given the starting point.

The comments that we read about the lines, the players in general that cause worry come from the current depth because a number of players are injured to where they cannot be practicing and the ongoing concern for strength below the waist that we have heard about over and over.

We do need linemen in the coming recruiting class, about 5 on offense and a couple of good ones on the DL.