November 4, 2025 • 18 mins
Inside Texas' Evan Vieth joins the show to discuss his takeaways from Texas' home win over Vanderbilt on Saturday!
What offensive adjustments may stick moving forward? How concerning are the struggles in the secondary? Plus - where should Texas be ranked by the CFP committee on Tuesday evening?
What offensive adjustments may stick moving forward? How concerning are the struggles in the secondary? Plus - where should Texas be ranked by the CFP committee on Tuesday evening?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you had long food after As always on a
Texas Tuesday, we bring you back during the four o'clock
hour with the cut from the King George Straight. Today,
we've got write this down for you, and it's a
great segue towards bringing in one of my favorite Texas
football writers, and that's Evan Vief of Inside Texas and Evan,
(00:22):
thanks for doing this.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
How's it. How are you spending this bye week so far?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Man? It's been nice. It's been relaxing.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
And just got done watching the first half tape from
that Vanderbilt game, so Brent, ready to talk about it,
at least at least the early good parts of the
offense before we dive into the defense.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, well, that's good.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I'm glad it's fresh for you because that's where we'll
start Texas with the thirty four to thirty one win
over Vanderbilt Saturday. I don't think that the game was
as close as the score. If you just watched the
first half, I'm sure you'll agree with that. What kind
of takeaways do you have from the tape?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yeah? I think starting offensively like this was for the
second straight week in row, we're saying this was Arch
Banning's best game is a long horn, which I think
pretty important for getting off that even a week Arch
Manning problem that he's been having where you're flip flopping
between that Oklahoma game where he's this hyper efficient game
manager using his legs effectively third down conversions, and then
he gets to Kentucky and it's terrible all around. You
(01:14):
get to miss City State, he's getting that explosiveness and
you're going, hey, will that be the same thing against
vander Build, a top ten opponent not really known for
their defense, but still a good team where if they
can constrict the amount of possessions you have suddenly arch
Maning's playing from behind, and we've seen that be a
problem in the past with him, but it really wasn't
anything like that. I think Sarkisian did a lot of
favors his best play calling game of the season. The
(01:35):
screen game worked really well for the team, but both
like throwbacks but also just getting Wingo out there for
that early score on that seventy five yard But it
wasn't just that for Manning. I know there was that
narrative about it being a lot of screen yards and
a lot of yak, but part of those quarterbacks do
set up their receivers for Yak and there was a
few plays where he's really getting to the second third
progressions finding players downfield. I really liked one sequence where
(01:56):
he hits mostly on a third and four and then
they're immediately using tempo to get down the field.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Two plays later, Frey Wiser's in there for a touchdown.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
So I thought it was a great game for Manning,
and that's about all you can ask for for a
guy who's got a lot of criticism this year. But
as we get later in the season, like I wrote
an article about this today, how many SEC quarterbacks are
we super super sure are better than Manning right now?
I don't know that's up for discussion. It could be two,
it could be five, but might not be even one.
We'll see going forward.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, it almost felt like good complimentary football, not just
between the defense and the offense, but like you highlighted
between Arch and his play caller and the old line
played a big factor in that. You wrote that Texas
might have found it's five on the offensive line. I
think Steve Sarkisian agreed when he answered questions about it
on Monday. How did that five kind of kind of
(02:44):
come to be over the course of what's been a
rocky season for that group.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Well, it's so funny, you know, start kept saying twice
you said there, you know it's not our most athletic
combo and offensive line, which it's almost some saying like, man,
I wish we could get these big humans, these big
athletes out there. You're Nick Brooks's maybe before the season
was netto, but right now it's clear that this Robertson
center Hudson left guard is the way to go. And
it's honestly come because Hudson's gotten injured this season. Robertson's
(03:10):
had to come in and play three games at center
before this, and then I think Stark saw that, especial
against Mississippi State, Hudson got over a lot of those
preset and happen fraction problems he's had, and suddenly he's
looking at He's going, well, I don't want to take
this guy off of center, but I do want to
get Cole Hudson in there, who's a very experienced guard.
We're having left guard problems. He played left guard before
for this team. Let's slot him in there. And clearly
(03:31):
it worked really well that play I was talking about
to with arch Man on third and four blitz pick up.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Arch had all the time in the world. He goes
sat back there for two more seconds in found a
guy there.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So a pretty pretty obvious difference and also improvement from
this offensive line from even just Mississippi State to now.
It's clearly the best group, and I'm I think Sarkisan's
gonna stick with it that that part of that athletic
players is a little bit I'm like, oh God, he
might think of the other way, but I do think
this is the five that we're going for going.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Forward well, and getting an athlete like Emtt Moseley back
on the outside has really opened up the screen game.
I'm sure you saw some of his big blocks jumping
out on tape.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
But I'm wondering if there's something to this.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
The Texas offense in eleven personnel right, which is the
one tight end out there, has really looked the best
it has of any kind of grouping they've had this year,
as oppose to the multiple tight end looks that sark
was employing at the start of the season. Is there
something to that is that you know, is that a
change that you think Texas is going to stick with
(04:33):
the rest of the year.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
I think one of the points with that eleven personnel
is you look at this Texas offense and you go
after urspanning just purely the other ten spots in the field.
How many of the top three are receivers. How many
of the top five are receivers. I'd argue that your
two best players in that offense are probably Moseley and
Ryan Wingo right now. So you want those guys in
the field, But that doesn't mean I want DeAndre Moore
off the field. Doesn't mean I want Parker Livingson not contributing,
(04:57):
because both those guys had some really good plays last game.
I think it became obvious for Sarks that though he
likes these young tight ends, your Shannon's, You're Washington's or townsends,
it's almost like there's too many of them, and none
of them are specifically really really good. You just like
the idea of what they can bring your team, But yeah,
getting them spread out, getting Jack Hendris is your main
guy out there whose numbers aren't really where you want
(05:19):
them to be, but he's still clearly helping this team
out on those third downs. It's just the way to
go for this team. It clearly is helping them move
the ball more the tempo adjustment to I think that's
really the biggest key to this is not only are
they out in this eleven personnel, but they're using that
eleven personnel to keep the defense in that true Nickel
set that I think Texas wants to play against. They
(05:40):
want them to be. They want to get Nickel blitz.
They want their teams to being these four to two
fives or three to three fives. Where hey, now the
Texas offensive line is suddenly the bigger group out there
because they're not playing against base.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
They're not playing it four down linemen.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
It just makes easier for frontragman wiser to run the ball,
it makes easier for ars man to.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Get the ball out quick.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
It gets Texas's best players in the field. It's pretty
infuriating took them this long to do it. To be
honest with.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
You, well, it might be a case of better late
than never.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
All right, flipping over to the defensive side of the football,
Let's start with the good and that is the pass
rush spearheaded by Colin.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Simmons and Ethan Burke.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And you can name five six other guys that really
wrecked the game plan for Vanderbilt in that game. That
group is starting to be what I think everybody in
Austin thought they were coming into the season.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yeah, Simmons is.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
A special talent, one that you just don't find very
often in college football, and one that since the start
of his freshman year we could kind of see it.
And he got a little flat early in the season
because I'll be honest with you, I think he was
kind of taking off those games two through four when
he was playing against some of those G six teams.
Since then, since especially Oklahoma, he has been a true
game wrecker, probably the best edgresser in college football during
(06:47):
that time. I talked about on my Twitter today when
I was posting some of these clips, like if the
Texas secondary is going to continue to struggle, which I
bet we'll get into it in the second, but if
they continue to struggle, the good part about this defense
is if they're in third and ten, there's still Simmons,
more Burke, Spence all coming at the passer, and unless
they're getting it out within one and a half seconds,
(07:07):
like the blitz is gonna be there and PK is
blitzing more.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
The defense is getting more just.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Natural pressure, even when they're not blitzing from Simmons one
on one or one on one. Even Burk's been really
good the last two games, so that's their best position
on the field. D line in general, say specifically the
edge group, and yeah, they're fun to watch, man Jake.
That's like my favorite part of the game is when
they're getting into third and ten and you're seeing the
opposing quarterback kind of checking his guys, seeing the six
(07:33):
players going to the last thing you're on out Dang,
like there's gonna be some heat on me.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Immediately, I was telling Craig I got to be in
the stands just as a fan, which has been rare
for me since since I graduated a few years ago.
But I think those are the loudest crowd pops, the
Simmons and Burke sacks. But when they don't get home,
that's when things have started to go wrong a little
bit for Texas, a secondary that now is looking at
back to back weeks of less than stellar play by
(07:59):
their own standards. How concerned are you about the Texas
secondary If this is what shape and in Pavia can
do when you've got a guy like Gunnar Stockton on
your schedule next.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, I do think.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
There's a little a bit of that asterisk of you know,
you didn't have Michael Taffan. It's clear how much he
means to that group, and then last part of this game,
you didn't have Jilani McDonald and at times you know
your third safety's out, your first corner and second corner
are out. So Sarcasian said on that big drive that
they have near the end of the game, like we're
down our five best defensive backs outside of Grayson Littleton
on the field.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
So that is part of it.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
But as I pointed out as well on Twitter, like
there were plays that were also just bad in the
first half that you don't want your defensive back group
to be to be doing. You can see the offenses
are kind of starting to realize, hey, Jalen Gilbot is
not the most talented one on one match coverage. He
often e don't need someone to shade him over top,
or when he's not shaved over top, he gives a
lot of space on the inside cuts. So you see
(08:54):
a lot of these six yards slamt routes get called
on Gilbolt where there's seven yard outs, which aren't really
his fault because he just knows what he has to
play with. But that's where teams are beating Texas at
and I think the long wars are you need to
constrict that overall unit. It needs to be taff and
and McDonald out there for most of the games. Littleton's
got to play a lot, Mohamm's got to play a lot,
Gilbo's got to play a lot. I'm not overly concerned.
(09:14):
I do think there is that kind of ramp up
mentality with this team. You get your bye week to
get fresh, which I think Muhammad played almost two hundred
snaps over the last three games. You get fresh, You've
got a Georgia game that you really know you got
to win, just for a lot of optics sakes, just
wanting to evengd the team last.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Shino Gilbot wants that championship game back.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
So a lot of games improved for this defense, but
a lot of that might just be coming from we
get a bye week, det healthy and fresh.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Hey, I think our team, the Washington Commanders, could use
about seven by weeks right now. So those dB injuries
remind me a little bit of of our beloved Commanders
at the moment.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
But we'll leave that issue for another time.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I'm gonna ask you the same question that Stark got
towards the end of his one of his only press
conferences this week after the loss in Gainesville. Do you
think or did you think that Texas would be in
the SEC championship conversation at this point?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
What do they get there? Is another story, but somehow
they're still standing.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I truly think he did. I mean he said to
us he did.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
And you know, coaches will talk and say whatever they
want in front of the cameras and then behind the
scenes is another thing. But he surely did think that
this team is way better than losing by eight to
Florida in the fashion that they did. And then even
though Florida probably was a better team than than they
are now and they hey, they gave Georgia a fight
on a neutral field this last week. But he did
probably look at the schedule and go, well, we've got
(10:36):
an Oklahoma game that is always winnable every year, We've
got in Mississippi State and Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Kentucky came first, and then Vanderbilt.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Like it's gonna be hard because three of those games
are gonna be not at home.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
But if you get to three.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
And oh after that and then you're at home, suddenly
you're looking at a pretty favorable way to.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Get to four and oh after that loss. And I
said that we needed to go four and.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Oh or five and oh whateveryone's in that October November
stage to get to this store to buy. They got
to four and one, which is still acceptable. They're in,
they're in a spot to do it. Like I don't
think I don't think specifically it's gonna happen for the
SEC championship, but like playoffs are definitely on the table
for this team, which I didn't think i'd be saying
three weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, that's sort of what I was asking, And Oh,
Sark thought, so did you?
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Yeah, I do. I do think they're there's a chance here.
I don't really trust the ESPN's fifty four percent number.
I think that's a little inflated, but like, yeah, they
are going to show up tonight in this playoff committee
ranking and probably be like the tenth or eleventh RG team.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
And I don't think Texas fans were really ready for that.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
And I don't think that a lot of fans a
week ago from anywhere across the country was ready for
that idea. But there's both that if they beat Georgia,
then suddenly they're, you know, the seventh best team, and
it's really starting get comfortable, even if you lose against
A and M and even then so like nine to
three sec. Team that was the big complaint last year
was from Alabama and South Carolina. Hey, we are better
(11:55):
than this SMU team that got killed in the first round.
Let us be the winner or let us the team
that gets that eleven seed. They're gonna be pushing for
that again this year, and the playoff committee has said,
we are putting a lot of value on strength to
schedule and strength of record. Now, I do think there's
gonna be some some people in that room. They're gonna go, yeah,
they do have three losses, and one of them is
to Florida, But then another group's gonna go, hey, losing
(12:18):
by seven to Ohio State when you're fighting for the
eleventh spot in this playoff is very acceptable.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
So suddenly you're looking at nine and two.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Otherwise you have wins against Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, one of A
and M Georgia.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
I do think Texas could get in there.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
I do think it's also a fifty to fifty right
and it depends on the YU Texas Tech and maybe
if another big ten team outside of the kind of
core three shows up. But it's on the cards, and
I think that's not something that a lot of fans
expect to be talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Like a month ago, and we're talking with Devin Veeve
from from inside Texas. You put out a great article
this morning diving into the CFP rankings, and you said Texas,
while they could go anywhere maybe in the ten to
fourteen rates, has an argument to be ranked as high
as eighth.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
You just laid out some of what that would look like.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I mean, if you had to pick a number tonight,
where do you think the committee will ultimately place Texas.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, I think it's ten.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I do think that's where they're going to go because
Texas Tech and Oregon do have probably the better resume
and the better argument to be above Texas. They Texas
Tech took them, Texas Tech took a bad loss to
Arizona State. I will say that, but I do think
this the diff between the one and the two is
gonna hold a lot of weight I do think that
this argument with Oregon and Penn State is a little disingenuous, because, yes,
(13:35):
Penn State right now is a team without a coach
that is not very good, and we know they're not
very good, but coming into that game like this was
everything for a team that clearly was talented. They clearly
showed up. The level of playing the game was very high.
So I don't I don't think the voters are going
to take this, Oh, they're a Penn State team that's
lost a coach. I think they're gonna take it as
(13:56):
Oregon Pennsylvania and won a pretty big under the lights
in the white out. Then it comes to Texas in
this ten through fourteen tier that you mentioned what they've
said in the committee criteria, and I hope they stick
to this is.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Head to head matters.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
That means Vanderbilt and Oklahoma cannot be above Texas, and
I know what Oklahoma is above them, the AP.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
They shouldn't have to worry about what the AP is saying.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
This is its own thing, so that should be two
teams that are head of anyway, Then the argument becomes Virginia,
because Virginia is better than Louisville. They beat Louisville and
head to head, so like they could be eleventh behind Virginia,
who is at number ten, but Virginia lost to NC State,
Like they are seven and one outside that are maybe
eight to one. But I would take Texas's resume over
Virginia's with their loss to NC State, so I think
(14:40):
they're gonna be ten. I think that's where they should
be as well.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, Virginia's got the ranked win over Louisville. I've got
Texas at ten in my rankings. All unveil in the
in the next segment, but it is difficult with all
the teams kind of in Matt Clump and I'm with you,
the eight pe pole is total nonsense because Texas being
behind both Oklahoma and Vanderbilt is one thing. But then
(15:02):
if you're gonna knock Texas down right saying okay, we
think this team is around fifteen, why then is Ohio
State number one and not Indiana where you have the Hoosiers.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah, I mean Indiana is the number one team.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
They have the better if you just want to go
pure numbers and analytics, strength, the record, strength, the schedule
better than Ohio State. And then they also have a
common opponent with Illinois, who they destroyed like it was
like sixty eight to fourteen or something like that, and
Ohio State also had a comfortable win. But yeah, Indiana
should be number one. I had Texas A and M
at number two, and then Ohio State three, Alababama four.
(15:35):
From what they've read up on it, they kind of
selected chunks, so they select their top four, then their
top eight, then their last four teams in, and then
from their thirteen through twenty five. So when you look
at who Texas has on their schedule as well, they're
taking two teams from that top chunk.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Which was A and M.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Ohio State, they'll play A and M, and then you're
getting Georgia from the next chunk because they're probably gonna
be fifth, sixth there. And then after that they've already
been Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, who without a loss of Texas
would be comfortably in the top ten area. So that's
where the Longhorns resume is doing them a lot of favors,
something that didn't happen last year where it was doing
the exact opposite. But yeah, I do, I do think
that Indiana should be number one, and then yeah, you
(16:15):
make a good point, like if the voters are really
taking a base off of resumes and that's not really
what the adpole does, I can want an hour tangent
about the a people, then Ohio State probably wouldn't be
number one. So I do think that the committee's doing
their own different criteria. They don't care about the adople
or what other people are saying, which is why I
had I think the case for Texas at ten or
even eleven, it's better.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Do you think that they should put out these rankings
every week? Because at the end of the day, we're
going back and forth about teams that are all in
a similar tier, and the argument is, well, you know,
it's gonna work itself out. It doesn't really matter. I mean,
do you think that it's a good idea to put
out these rankings every week? TV ratings aside?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
I think it's good that.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
They wait till November and then they kind of do
it week to week, because like, if they do week one,
c if people and it had Texas in there even
though they lost and they were zero and leve while
a bunch of other teams were one and out, then like,
what's the point of.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Eving doing right?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Right, I agree with you on that.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
But then if you wait all the way back to
the very end, I think it takes maybe a little
bit of the suspense out of some of these games
and what these conference championship games mean. I think for
their sake, they should wait until the very end and
release one and it's your final and that's all you've got,
because there's gonna be some tough conversations that end of
the year of say BYU is a one loss team
(17:32):
in the Big Twelve, but they don't win their conference
and they turned to an eleven and two team, How
does eleven in two BYU look versus a nine and
three Oklahoma or Texas.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
That's gonna be really tough for the committee to decide
on it.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
That's where it's gonna be hard for them to say, Hey,
if you're the nine seed coming in, are we gonna
drop you to the thirteen seed if you lose that
conference championship game that you earned that Texas or Oklahoma
didn't play in.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
I do like the way they do it right now.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I think it's the way they should do it, But
I think for their own safety, they should be very
comfortable with.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Not doing any rankings until the very end. But I
like the way we have it.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I think I do too. And Evan, this was a
lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Oh and I've lost you, Jake, my audio just cut out.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well it's a good place to leave you.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Then, Evan V.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
From Inside Texas, we appreciate you joining the show today.
You can see you can read his work at Inside Texas,
part of on three College Football Network.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
When we come back. We mentioned where.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Evan and I think Texas might slot in the CFP rankings. Tonight, Well,
I'll make my best attempt at ranking teams one through
twenty five. It'll probably be torn to shreds in a
week's time. That's coming up on sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred The Zone
If you had long food after As always on a
Texas Tuesday, we bring you back during the four o'clock
hour with the cut from the King George Straight. Today,
we've got write this down for you, and it's a
great segue towards bringing in one of my favorite Texas
football writers, and that's Evan Vief of Inside Texas and Evan,
(00:22):
thanks for doing this.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
How's it. How are you spending this bye week so far?
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Man? It's been nice. It's been relaxing.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
And just got done watching the first half tape from
that Vanderbilt game, so Brent, ready to talk about it,
at least at least the early good parts of the
offense before we dive into the defense.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, well, that's good.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I'm glad it's fresh for you because that's where we'll
start Texas with the thirty four to thirty one win
over Vanderbilt Saturday. I don't think that the game was
as close as the score. If you just watched the
first half, I'm sure you'll agree with that. What kind
of takeaways do you have from the tape?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Yeah? I think starting offensively like this was for the
second straight week in row, we're saying this was Arch
Banning's best game is a long horn, which I think
pretty important for getting off that even a week Arch
Manning problem that he's been having where you're flip flopping
between that Oklahoma game where he's this hyper efficient game
manager using his legs effectively third down conversions, and then
he gets to Kentucky and it's terrible all around. You
(01:14):
get to miss City State, he's getting that explosiveness and
you're going, hey, will that be the same thing against
vander Build, a top ten opponent not really known for
their defense, but still a good team where if they
can constrict the amount of possessions you have suddenly arch
Maning's playing from behind, and we've seen that be a
problem in the past with him, but it really wasn't
anything like that. I think Sarkisian did a lot of
favors his best play calling game of the season. The
(01:35):
screen game worked really well for the team, but both
like throwbacks but also just getting Wingo out there for
that early score on that seventy five yard But it
wasn't just that for Manning. I know there was that
narrative about it being a lot of screen yards and
a lot of yak, but part of those quarterbacks do
set up their receivers for Yak and there was a
few plays where he's really getting to the second third
progressions finding players downfield. I really liked one sequence where
(01:56):
he hits mostly on a third and four and then
they're immediately using tempo to get down the field.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
Two plays later, Frey Wiser's in there for a touchdown.
Speaker 4 (02:03):
So I thought it was a great game for Manning,
and that's about all you can ask for for a
guy who's got a lot of criticism this year. But
as we get later in the season, like I wrote
an article about this today, how many SEC quarterbacks are
we super super sure are better than Manning right now?
I don't know that's up for discussion. It could be two,
it could be five, but might not be even one.
We'll see going forward.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, it almost felt like good complimentary football, not just
between the defense and the offense, but like you highlighted
between Arch and his play caller and the old line
played a big factor in that. You wrote that Texas
might have found it's five on the offensive line. I
think Steve Sarkisian agreed when he answered questions about it
on Monday. How did that five kind of kind of
(02:44):
come to be over the course of what's been a
rocky season for that group.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
Well, it's so funny, you know, start kept saying twice
you said there, you know it's not our most athletic
combo and offensive line, which it's almost some saying like, man,
I wish we could get these big humans, these big
athletes out there. You're Nick Brooks's maybe before the season
was netto, but right now it's clear that this Robertson
center Hudson left guard is the way to go. And
it's honestly come because Hudson's gotten injured this season. Robertson's
(03:10):
had to come in and play three games at center
before this, and then I think Stark saw that, especial
against Mississippi State, Hudson got over a lot of those
preset and happen fraction problems he's had, and suddenly he's
looking at He's going, well, I don't want to take
this guy off of center, but I do want to
get Cole Hudson in there, who's a very experienced guard.
We're having left guard problems. He played left guard before
for this team. Let's slot him in there. And clearly
(03:31):
it worked really well that play I was talking about
to with arch Man on third and four blitz pick up.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Arch had all the time in the world. He goes
sat back there for two more seconds in found a
guy there.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
So a pretty pretty obvious difference and also improvement from
this offensive line from even just Mississippi State to now.
It's clearly the best group, and I'm I think Sarkisan's
gonna stick with it that that part of that athletic
players is a little bit I'm like, oh God, he
might think of the other way, but I do think
this is the five that we're going for going.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Forward well, and getting an athlete like Emtt Moseley back
on the outside has really opened up the screen game.
I'm sure you saw some of his big blocks jumping
out on tape.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
But I'm wondering if there's something to this.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
The Texas offense in eleven personnel right, which is the
one tight end out there, has really looked the best
it has of any kind of grouping they've had this year,
as oppose to the multiple tight end looks that sark
was employing at the start of the season. Is there
something to that is that you know, is that a
change that you think Texas is going to stick with
(04:33):
the rest of the year.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
I think one of the points with that eleven personnel
is you look at this Texas offense and you go
after urspanning just purely the other ten spots in the field.
How many of the top three are receivers. How many
of the top five are receivers. I'd argue that your
two best players in that offense are probably Moseley and
Ryan Wingo right now. So you want those guys in
the field, But that doesn't mean I want DeAndre Moore
off the field. Doesn't mean I want Parker Livingson not contributing,
(04:57):
because both those guys had some really good plays last game.
I think it became obvious for Sarks that though he
likes these young tight ends, your Shannon's, You're Washington's or townsends,
it's almost like there's too many of them, and none
of them are specifically really really good. You just like
the idea of what they can bring your team, But yeah,
getting them spread out, getting Jack Hendris is your main
guy out there whose numbers aren't really where you want
(05:19):
them to be, but he's still clearly helping this team
out on those third downs. It's just the way to
go for this team. It clearly is helping them move
the ball more the tempo adjustment to I think that's
really the biggest key to this is not only are
they out in this eleven personnel, but they're using that
eleven personnel to keep the defense in that true Nickel
set that I think Texas wants to play against. They
(05:40):
want them to be. They want to get Nickel blitz.
They want their teams to being these four to two
fives or three to three fives. Where hey, now the
Texas offensive line is suddenly the bigger group out there
because they're not playing against base.
Speaker 3 (05:49):
They're not playing it four down linemen.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
It just makes easier for frontragman wiser to run the ball,
it makes easier for ars man to.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Get the ball out quick.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
It gets Texas's best players in the field. It's pretty
infuriating took them this long to do it. To be
honest with.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
You, well, it might be a case of better late
than never.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
All right, flipping over to the defensive side of the football,
Let's start with the good and that is the pass
rush spearheaded by Colin.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Simmons and Ethan Burke.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
And you can name five six other guys that really
wrecked the game plan for Vanderbilt in that game. That
group is starting to be what I think everybody in
Austin thought they were coming into the season.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
Yeah, Simmons is.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
A special talent, one that you just don't find very
often in college football, and one that since the start
of his freshman year we could kind of see it.
And he got a little flat early in the season
because I'll be honest with you, I think he was
kind of taking off those games two through four when
he was playing against some of those G six teams.
Since then, since especially Oklahoma, he has been a true
game wrecker, probably the best edgresser in college football during
(06:47):
that time. I talked about on my Twitter today when
I was posting some of these clips, like if the
Texas secondary is going to continue to struggle, which I
bet we'll get into it in the second, but if
they continue to struggle, the good part about this defense
is if they're in third and ten, there's still Simmons,
more Burke, Spence all coming at the passer, and unless
they're getting it out within one and a half seconds,
(07:07):
like the blitz is gonna be there and PK is
blitzing more.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
The defense is getting more just.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
Natural pressure, even when they're not blitzing from Simmons one
on one or one on one. Even Burk's been really
good the last two games, so that's their best position
on the field. D line in general, say specifically the
edge group, and yeah, they're fun to watch, man Jake.
That's like my favorite part of the game is when
they're getting into third and ten and you're seeing the
opposing quarterback kind of checking his guys, seeing the six
(07:33):
players going to the last thing you're on out Dang,
like there's gonna be some heat on me.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Immediately, I was telling Craig I got to be in
the stands just as a fan, which has been rare
for me since since I graduated a few years ago.
But I think those are the loudest crowd pops, the
Simmons and Burke sacks. But when they don't get home,
that's when things have started to go wrong a little
bit for Texas, a secondary that now is looking at
back to back weeks of less than stellar play by
(07:59):
their own standards. How concerned are you about the Texas
secondary If this is what shape and in Pavia can
do when you've got a guy like Gunnar Stockton on
your schedule next.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yeah, I do think.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
There's a little a bit of that asterisk of you know,
you didn't have Michael Taffan. It's clear how much he
means to that group, and then last part of this game,
you didn't have Jilani McDonald and at times you know
your third safety's out, your first corner and second corner
are out. So Sarcasian said on that big drive that
they have near the end of the game, like we're
down our five best defensive backs outside of Grayson Littleton
on the field.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
So that is part of it.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
But as I pointed out as well on Twitter, like
there were plays that were also just bad in the
first half that you don't want your defensive back group
to be to be doing. You can see the offenses
are kind of starting to realize, hey, Jalen Gilbot is
not the most talented one on one match coverage. He
often e don't need someone to shade him over top,
or when he's not shaved over top, he gives a
lot of space on the inside cuts. So you see
(08:54):
a lot of these six yards slamt routes get called
on Gilbolt where there's seven yard outs, which aren't really
his fault because he just knows what he has to
play with. But that's where teams are beating Texas at
and I think the long wars are you need to
constrict that overall unit. It needs to be taff and
and McDonald out there for most of the games. Littleton's
got to play a lot, Mohamm's got to play a lot,
Gilbo's got to play a lot. I'm not overly concerned.
(09:14):
I do think there is that kind of ramp up
mentality with this team. You get your bye week to
get fresh, which I think Muhammad played almost two hundred
snaps over the last three games. You get fresh, You've
got a Georgia game that you really know you got
to win, just for a lot of optics sakes, just
wanting to evengd the team last.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Shino Gilbot wants that championship game back.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
So a lot of games improved for this defense, but
a lot of that might just be coming from we
get a bye week, det healthy and fresh.
Speaker 1 (09:39):
Hey, I think our team, the Washington Commanders, could use
about seven by weeks right now. So those dB injuries
remind me a little bit of of our beloved Commanders
at the moment.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
But we'll leave that issue for another time.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
I'm gonna ask you the same question that Stark got
towards the end of his one of his only press
conferences this week after the loss in Gainesville. Do you
think or did you think that Texas would be in
the SEC championship conversation at this point?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
What do they get there? Is another story, but somehow
they're still standing.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
I truly think he did. I mean he said to
us he did.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
And you know, coaches will talk and say whatever they
want in front of the cameras and then behind the
scenes is another thing. But he surely did think that
this team is way better than losing by eight to
Florida in the fashion that they did. And then even
though Florida probably was a better team than than they
are now and they hey, they gave Georgia a fight
on a neutral field this last week. But he did
probably look at the schedule and go, well, we've got
(10:36):
an Oklahoma game that is always winnable every year, We've
got in Mississippi State and Kentucky.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Kentucky came first, and then Vanderbilt.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Like it's gonna be hard because three of those games
are gonna be not at home.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
But if you get to three.
Speaker 4 (10:47):
And oh after that and then you're at home, suddenly
you're looking at a pretty favorable way to.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
Get to four and oh after that loss. And I
said that we needed to go four and.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Oh or five and oh whateveryone's in that October November
stage to get to this store to buy. They got
to four and one, which is still acceptable. They're in,
they're in a spot to do it. Like I don't
think I don't think specifically it's gonna happen for the
SEC championship, but like playoffs are definitely on the table
for this team, which I didn't think i'd be saying
three weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
Yeah, that's sort of what I was asking, And Oh,
Sark thought, so did you?
Speaker 4 (11:19):
Yeah, I do. I do think they're there's a chance here.
I don't really trust the ESPN's fifty four percent number.
I think that's a little inflated, but like, yeah, they
are going to show up tonight in this playoff committee
ranking and probably be like the tenth or eleventh RG team.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
And I don't think Texas fans were really ready for that.
Speaker 4 (11:34):
And I don't think that a lot of fans a
week ago from anywhere across the country was ready for
that idea. But there's both that if they beat Georgia,
then suddenly they're, you know, the seventh best team, and
it's really starting get comfortable, even if you lose against
A and M and even then so like nine to
three sec. Team that was the big complaint last year
was from Alabama and South Carolina. Hey, we are better
(11:55):
than this SMU team that got killed in the first round.
Let us be the winner or let us the team
that gets that eleven seed. They're gonna be pushing for
that again this year, and the playoff committee has said,
we are putting a lot of value on strength to
schedule and strength of record. Now, I do think there's
gonna be some some people in that room. They're gonna go, yeah,
they do have three losses, and one of them is
to Florida, But then another group's gonna go, hey, losing
(12:18):
by seven to Ohio State when you're fighting for the
eleventh spot in this playoff is very acceptable.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
So suddenly you're looking at nine and two.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Otherwise you have wins against Oklahoma, Vanderbilt, one of A
and M Georgia.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
I do think Texas could get in there.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
I do think it's also a fifty to fifty right
and it depends on the YU Texas Tech and maybe
if another big ten team outside of the kind of
core three shows up. But it's on the cards, and
I think that's not something that a lot of fans
expect to be talking about.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Like a month ago, and we're talking with Devin Veeve
from from inside Texas. You put out a great article
this morning diving into the CFP rankings, and you said Texas,
while they could go anywhere maybe in the ten to
fourteen rates, has an argument to be ranked as high
as eighth.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
You just laid out some of what that would look like.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
I mean, if you had to pick a number tonight,
where do you think the committee will ultimately place Texas.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, I think it's ten.
Speaker 4 (13:13):
I do think that's where they're going to go because
Texas Tech and Oregon do have probably the better resume
and the better argument to be above Texas. They Texas
Tech took them, Texas Tech took a bad loss to
Arizona State. I will say that, but I do think
this the diff between the one and the two is
gonna hold a lot of weight I do think that
this argument with Oregon and Penn State is a little disingenuous, because, yes,
(13:35):
Penn State right now is a team without a coach
that is not very good, and we know they're not
very good, but coming into that game like this was
everything for a team that clearly was talented. They clearly
showed up. The level of playing the game was very high.
So I don't I don't think the voters are going
to take this, Oh, they're a Penn State team that's
lost a coach. I think they're gonna take it as
(13:56):
Oregon Pennsylvania and won a pretty big under the lights
in the white out. Then it comes to Texas in
this ten through fourteen tier that you mentioned what they've
said in the committee criteria, and I hope they stick
to this is.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Head to head matters.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
That means Vanderbilt and Oklahoma cannot be above Texas, and
I know what Oklahoma is above them, the AP.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
They shouldn't have to worry about what the AP is saying.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
This is its own thing, so that should be two
teams that are head of anyway, Then the argument becomes Virginia,
because Virginia is better than Louisville. They beat Louisville and
head to head, so like they could be eleventh behind Virginia,
who is at number ten, but Virginia lost to NC State,
Like they are seven and one outside that are maybe
eight to one. But I would take Texas's resume over
Virginia's with their loss to NC State, so I think
(14:40):
they're gonna be ten. I think that's where they should
be as well.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, Virginia's got the ranked win over Louisville. I've got
Texas at ten in my rankings. All unveil in the
in the next segment, but it is difficult with all
the teams kind of in Matt Clump and I'm with you,
the eight pe pole is total nonsense because Texas being
behind both Oklahoma and Vanderbilt is one thing. But then
(15:02):
if you're gonna knock Texas down right saying okay, we
think this team is around fifteen, why then is Ohio
State number one and not Indiana where you have the Hoosiers.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Yeah, I mean Indiana is the number one team.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
They have the better if you just want to go
pure numbers and analytics, strength, the record, strength, the schedule
better than Ohio State. And then they also have a
common opponent with Illinois, who they destroyed like it was
like sixty eight to fourteen or something like that, and
Ohio State also had a comfortable win. But yeah, Indiana
should be number one. I had Texas A and M
at number two, and then Ohio State three, Alababama four.
(15:35):
From what they've read up on it, they kind of
selected chunks, so they select their top four, then their
top eight, then their last four teams in, and then
from their thirteen through twenty five. So when you look
at who Texas has on their schedule as well, they're
taking two teams from that top chunk.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Which was A and M.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
Ohio State, they'll play A and M, and then you're
getting Georgia from the next chunk because they're probably gonna
be fifth, sixth there. And then after that they've already
been Oklahoma and Vanderbilt, who without a loss of Texas
would be comfortably in the top ten area. So that's
where the Longhorns resume is doing them a lot of favors,
something that didn't happen last year where it was doing
the exact opposite. But yeah, I do, I do think
that Indiana should be number one, and then yeah, you
(16:15):
make a good point, like if the voters are really
taking a base off of resumes and that's not really
what the adpole does, I can want an hour tangent
about the a people, then Ohio State probably wouldn't be
number one. So I do think that the committee's doing
their own different criteria. They don't care about the adople
or what other people are saying, which is why I
had I think the case for Texas at ten or
even eleven, it's better.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
Do you think that they should put out these rankings
every week? Because at the end of the day, we're
going back and forth about teams that are all in
a similar tier, and the argument is, well, you know,
it's gonna work itself out. It doesn't really matter. I mean,
do you think that it's a good idea to put
out these rankings every week? TV ratings aside?
Speaker 3 (16:54):
I think it's good that.
Speaker 4 (16:55):
They wait till November and then they kind of do
it week to week, because like, if they do week one,
c if people and it had Texas in there even
though they lost and they were zero and leve while
a bunch of other teams were one and out, then like,
what's the point of.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Eving doing right?
Speaker 2 (17:09):
Right, I agree with you on that.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
But then if you wait all the way back to
the very end, I think it takes maybe a little
bit of the suspense out of some of these games
and what these conference championship games mean. I think for
their sake, they should wait until the very end and
release one and it's your final and that's all you've got,
because there's gonna be some tough conversations that end of
the year of say BYU is a one loss team
(17:32):
in the Big Twelve, but they don't win their conference
and they turned to an eleven and two team, How
does eleven in two BYU look versus a nine and
three Oklahoma or Texas.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
That's gonna be really tough for the committee to decide
on it.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
That's where it's gonna be hard for them to say, Hey,
if you're the nine seed coming in, are we gonna
drop you to the thirteen seed if you lose that
conference championship game that you earned that Texas or Oklahoma
didn't play in.
Speaker 3 (17:55):
I do like the way they do it right now.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
I think it's the way they should do it, But
I think for their own safety, they should be very
comfortable with.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Not doing any rankings until the very end. But I
like the way we have it.
Speaker 1 (18:07):
I think I do too. And Evan, this was a
lot of fun. Thanks for stopping by.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Oh and I've lost you, Jake, my audio just cut out.
Speaker 2 (18:15):
Well it's a good place to leave you.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Then, Evan V.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
From Inside Texas, we appreciate you joining the show today.
You can see you can read his work at Inside Texas,
part of on three College Football Network.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
When we come back. We mentioned where.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Evan and I think Texas might slot in the CFP rankings. Tonight, Well,
I'll make my best attempt at ranking teams one through
twenty five. It'll probably be torn to shreds in a
week's time. That's coming up on sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred The Zone
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