After 8 Games...Are We That "Off" Our Pace?

Excellent info to compare against our highly passionate and sometimes shrill, opinionated sarcasticating.

that’s kind of consistent

the pace or not, this is the most poorly coached Tech defense since the Lyle Setencich era, and that doesnt bode well for the rest of the year.

to keep the perspective

posted this. I was at the game with my family and was frustrated as anyone. I tweeted to one Lubbock reporter, when was the last time Tech lost three at home, especially in a row? 1991.

As I rode the bus back to our tailgate spot (sponsored by Hooters by the way), I thought, is this the worst loss I have actually sat through? Answer..of course not. I sat through the horrendous Kansas loss in 2001; their only Big12 win. I sat through the horrible Nebraska loss in 2000 (not listed above). But we survived another day. This too shall pass.

I still contend, as the day I predicted this summer, we will win 7 games. This, primarily because of a very young defense. I found myself not yelling at the D after giving up run after run. For some, this is their 3rd D-Coordinator in three years. Not giving them an out because these kids are playing their hearts out.

I eventually told myself…this team is too young to understand the magnitude of an OU road victory. Their twitter posts suggested that. Pictures with Snoop on Sunday night at a club, talking about the victory well into the week in preparation for ISU. This team must seek out leaders and that’s where the juniors/seniors come into play. Maybe they have been stepping up, but with so many newcomers, it may be like herding cats.

It may be rosier if one considers over the period of the data you presented, this year is marked both by a new DC and a bazzillion freshmen playing big minutes.

Not to say that if we were playing seniors only, say, with the new defense that we would look any better.

Offense last saturday was as weak as I can remember over the same time span.

had we lost to OU but beat Iowa State we wouldn’t be moaning so much

it really isn’t just the win lost record but how we win and lose
as well as where win win and lose

but I would still rather beat OU any day!

I was starting to worry.

When we lost under Leach I seem to remember being in the game most of the time late in the game. What I mean is we had our chances to win the game late. The losses to A&M, KSU, and ISU were bad losses. There wasn’t a prayer late in the game we would win hence the early departure of fans. I think there is something to be said about this. The players and fans always knew that there was a chance of a quick comeback because we could score 21 points in less than 5 minutes as long as our defense held up. I remember multiple games where this would happen. We were down by 21 at half and nobody even worried. Why has that changed? Our offense is still potent so why has that expectation changed?

But look beyond the numbers and we find:

5-7 Big 12 record. Not “normal,” but we still have four Big 12 games left, and TT’s only been in the saddle for less than two seasons. Need more data here.

1-6 Home record against Big 12 opponents, with one home game left against a tough OSU team. We’ll have to go undefeated in home conference play for two to three seasons to get over 0.500 in this category.

Defenses ranked in the 100’s two seasons in a row (so far). (No comparisons – this is a stand alone evaluation.)

Those are my main concerns.

I can live with the offense production. I think the defense and special teams have been horrible two years in a row.

I wonder about this CEO coach model. Look at the best coaches in the game today: Saban (a ruthless asshole), Miles, Peterson (XO’s coach), Gundy (players’ coach), Harbaugh (X&O/ players’ coach), Stoops (A COACH), Sweeney, the Ole Ball Coach etc.

Who else has a “CEO” coach? I want to know where this model has been applied successfully other than Texas (which has a couple of other things going for it as well)?

We more than likely would have been 5-3 had we not played UT so early.

Good stats, but like you I don’t see 8-4 being very likely. But I’m willing to cook up another batch of fried crow.

When one considers the past Tech’s current “pace” is behind three of the years 2005, 2007, 2008. When one considers home game record Tech is behind normal pace. When one considers defensive statistics Tech is behind normal pace. When one considers recent games against A&M, Kansas State and Iowa State Tech is behind normal pace. When one considers fan confidence Tech is behind normal pace. Tech had built a reputation that they were to be feared. Now, I don’t believe that anyone fears Tech football. Most likely the reason Tech beat OU was that they let down their guard.

Tech92’s glass may be half full; but, I believe it is also somewhat rose colored. I would not declare the past two seasons as successful by any means of the imagination. In recent years Tech may have gotten a few more stars from Rivals. But, performance is still mediocre. I feel the team has lost momentum and the edge.

Finally, is our goal simply to keep pace with the past? If you shoot for the same thing, that is probably all you should expect. I for one would like to see Tech football be a little more productive than in the past.

 SOS is also a consideration. In the early years, the Big XII was not as strong as it has been in the last 5. Which is why losses to North Texas and TCU were unnerving (TCU was up and coming, but not a powerhouse). In conference losses to Colorado, who has sucked for a long time, OSU when we couidn’t play with a lead,and Mizzou when we refused to put an RB in the backfield to help block were equally aggravating. Taking this into account, I wonder if this team could beat the 2001 team?

I get frustration over lack of in-game adjustment, but I would venture that MOST coaches don’t really make “adjustments” – they just correct errors. You run the games like you run practice.. If you haven’t been practicing something, even if it would make an absolute sense to make the adjustment in the game, switching defensive schemes isn’t going to happen. Going from a spread, passing attack to a power running attack isn’t going to happen. Correcting errors is something you do within your scheme like proper alignments, recognition, etc. There may be small adjustments in things like coverage and play mix, but not of the variety most people moan about.

It is a shame that this is the norm first of all, but then it is better than the Jerry Moore era. I think the rub here is that we seemed so close against fishbait and kSU. Games that could have been except for some fundamental mistakes. Then we saw what they could do if they were focused and executed. That was exciting and electric against oU. A corner was turned and most of us thought we are on our way. I was able to listen briefly to the game in the last minutes of the fourth quarter. When the announcers are sarcastically asking which side that ISU will run on, you know there is trouble. When they say that bowl representaives are in attendance and they have not seen much from the offense, you know it cannot be good. We then remeber that this game is played on the field and not on paper. Because the “paper” says we cannot hang with oU and ISU cannot hang with us. Pimp slapped back to reality. Don’t know what to expect against tu, and frankly nothing will surprise me, Win by one or 17, lose by 24 anything is possible

on a positive note, next year our team will be one year older.