Saturday, August 21, 2010

2010 - The Year of the Defense

Earlier this year, we saw an article in the Dallas Morning News discussing how the Longhorn defense will be bigger and badder than even this year, in spite of the losses to the NFL of Earl Thomas and others. I don't disagree with the premise of that article. However, I submit to you that overall, the Big 12 will look better defensively this year, for three reasons: 1) offensive philosophies of Tommy Tuberville vs Mike Leach will reduce Texas Tech points and yards by 25% at least; 2) continued defensive maturation to battling spread offenses; and most importantly, 3) the degeneration of the field general in the Big 12. here's some tidbits of information for you:

  • Coming into the 2008 season, returning Big 12 quarterbacks had collectively 18 years of college starting experience. This year, it's eight.
  • For 8 of the Big 12 schools in 2008, their starting quarterback that year ended up being the career leader in passing yards for the school. The exceptions in that year were: Cash Machine U, Nebraska (Joe Ganz finished second); Baylor and Colorado, where Cody Hawkins is presently the third most prolific passer in terms of yards (let that sink in for a minute).
  • In 2010, how many of the starting QBs could end up with most yards in school history at the end of their careers? According to my review of career yards to date and class of the starting QB, there are three possibilities: a) Landry Jones; b) Jerrod Johnson; c) Robert Griffin; d) Garrett Gilbert, if he passes for 4,000+ yards/yr for the next three years.
  • The incoming starters for 2008 had collectively passes for 36,010 yards 272 TDs and 123 interceptions the previous year.
  • In 2010, those same figures are 19,506 yards, 138 TDs and 75 interceptions.
With the departures of Reesing, Bradford, Daniels, Harrell and McCoy over the last two years, the conference lost salty quarterbacks that stepped in as freshmen with almost immediate success. These quarterbacks allowed their coaches to be more aggressive offensively due to their low failure rates. Fast forward to 2010, you don't have near the pedigree of quarterbacks and they have less experience,and you're going to see more conservative play calling to minimize turnovers.

So, let's pronounce this the year of the defense now, and get it over with. In some ways, the Big 12 has wanted to be like the SEC, now here's our chance. Break out the jorts and the fried food people, it's time to party.

Monday, August 9, 2010

Longhorn Network Programming Suggestions

During the WTF Media Days, I was very busy. However, I was able to sit down with Mack Brown and DeLoss Dodd's and discuss some programming content for the often rumored Longhorn TV network. I haven't had a chance to post since, but here are some suggestions that they didn't care for that much:

  • Failure to Launch: WTF correspondents debate whether the title is a Matthew McCaughnahey film or the title of Greg Davis' playbook.
  • Dazed and Confused: 24/7 reality show featuring Vince Young and a playbook.
  • A Time to Kill: an inside look on the negotiations that led to the demise of the big 12 as we know it.
  • Boys on the Side: the story of Longhorn women's basketball team.
  • Fools Gold: the pro basketball prospects of PJ Tucker.
  • Austin's dumbest criminals, presented by The Smoking Gun. Follow the hijinks of the Longhorn football team through voluntary workouts.
  • Dude, where's my clothes? An epic documentary in search of Edwin Simmons' belongings.
  • Great Expectations: interviews with Longhorn gridiron stars who explain what it's like to to be a perpetual favorites to win the conference but only have three conference titles in 14 years.
  • Replay, sponsored by Gatorade. Reuniting the Chris Simms-Roy Williams connection to see if they can ever score a TD against the Sooner D.
  • NCIS: Austin. Abby joins the Longhorn network with her lab gear. She goes in search of untainted urine samples from Lance Armstrong and Roger Clemens.
  • Extreme Makeover. Cosmetic dentists try to remove the coffee stains from Mack Brown's teeth.
  • Draft redux. Joint programming with the NFL Network where experts debate which round Longhorn first round draft picks would be selected in hindsight.
Got other ideas? Let's see them in the comments.

And, we're back

Good to be back in blogosphere. We'll start today with an email from a loyal reader who suggested a new name for the Big XII X. We'll be referring to the conference by it's new name, the "We're Texas and Friends" conference. No doubt the media will shorten the moniker to it's acronym, WTF. Suggestions for logos are appreciated. Email 'em to me at landthieves dot gmail dot com. Thanks to Jamie for the suggestion and the laugh.