Houston: Do We Have A Problem?

[epicsnyder]

Some of the comments in this thread are real head scratchers.

Things we have done well this year: run the football, pass the football, control our opponents rushing attack, rush the passer (yes, many times with just 3 down linemen).

Things we have not done well this year: defend opponents passing attack when in zone coverage

Houston is a struggling football team. We are a good football team. We just need to avoid a let down and come into this one prepared to play. This is a clipboard game (where both coaches meet at the 50, drop your clipboards down and the best team on paper gets the win). That doesn't mean we will win the game (Vandy/Bama??). KSU plays KSU football and this is a yawner. KSU lays and egg and comes out flat before the break and we could get spanked.

I'm more concerned about playing ASU after a bye week at the moment.

I think most are tongue in cheek comments. But you have to admit that our pass rush was non-existent against the Fugly Birds until Klanderman pulled his head out of his ass 85-90 % into the game and FINALLY started bringing more bodies. There is no arguing that fact.

[Tbonespop]

Some of the comments in this thread are real head scratchers.

Things we have done well this year: run the football, pass the football, control our opponents rushing attack, rush the passer (yes, many times with just 3 down linemen).

Things we have not done well this year: defend opponents passing attack when in zone coverage

Houston is a struggling football team. We are a good football team. We just need to avoid a let down and come into this one prepared to play. This is a clipboard game (where both coaches meet at the 50, drop your clipboards down and the best team on paper gets the win). That doesn't mean we will win the game (Vandy/Bama??). KSU plays KSU football and this is a yawner. KSU lays and egg and comes out flat before the break and we could get spanked.

I'm more concerned about playing ASU after a bye week at the moment.

I think most are tongue in cheek comments. But you have to admit that our pass rush was non-existent against the Fugly Birds until Klanderman pulled his head out of his ass 85-90 % into the game and FINALLY started bringing more bodies. There is no arguing that fact.

Couple of points on the pass rush versus KU. 1) Our boys were being held and I recall maybe 1 holding penalty on KU all night. 2) When defending against a mobile dual threat QB, the DL has to mostly play things "straight up" and containment to try and keep the opposing QB contained in the pocket. You can't just pin your ears back like Mott likes to do and get after it down after down. 3) KU's OL is decent - far better than CUs OL. They give out scholarships too. With a 3 man DL going against a 5 man OL, the numbers aren't in your favor especially when playing things straight up to contain the QB, you can't stunt as much, which makes it easier to go up against as an OLman. Suppose I had different expectations from our DL going into this one.

[tmcats]

wait till k-state loses. all the vicarious anger is being pent up for an explosion. some can't control themselves even in victory. but what the hell, state is just 7-1 and in the league and cfp hunt, so there's that.

[stlcatfan]

I think most are tongue in cheek comments. But you have to admit that our pass rush was non-existent against the Fugly Birds until Klanderman pulled his head out of his ass 85-90 % into the game and FINALLY started bringing more bodies. There is no arguing that fact.

Couple of points on the pass rush versus KU. 1) Our boys were being held and I recall maybe 1 holding penalty on KU all night. 2) When defending against a mobile dual threat QB, the DL has to mostly play things "straight up" and containment to try and keep the opposing QB contained in the pocket. You can't just pin your ears back like Mott likes to do and get after it down after down. 3) KU's OL is decent - far better than CUs OL. They give out scholarships too. With a 3 man DL going against a 5 man OL, the numbers aren't in your favor especially when playing things straight up to contain the QB, you can't stunt as much, which makes it easier to go up against as an OLman. Suppose I had different expectations from our DL going into this one.

I totally agree on KU linemen holding. It was pretty blatant. That being said, we need to tackle better. For the first three quarters, our tackling left a lot to be desired. If we come out and play focused on both sides of the ball on Saturday, we should win.

[Catalum]

wait till k-state loses. all the vicarious anger is being pent up for an explosion. some can't control themselves even in victory. but what the hell, state is just 7-1 and in the league and cfp hunt, so there's that.

You're correct, tm. There are some who otherwise post very little on the board, just waiting to pounce after our Cats lose a game. Doesn't it just suck that the Cats are "only" 7-1, controlling it's own destiny to the Big XII CG and CFP?

There are ~100 other teams in FBS that wish they were in that position.

[DeereCatFan]

wait till k-state loses. all the vicarious anger is being pent up for an explosion. some can't control themselves even in victory. but what the hell, state is just 7-1 and in the league and cfp hunt, so there's that.

You're correct, tm. There are some who otherwise post very little on the board, just waiting to pounce after our Cats lose a game. Doesn't it just suck that the Cats are "only" 7-1, controlling it's own destiny to the Big XII CG and CFP?

There are ~100 other teams in FBS that wish they were in that position.

Guys it isn't that. It's that these games shouldn't get this close or be this close. IMO. I am very happy they are 7-1. But i firmly believe the Cats are better than BYU and poor conservative play calling kept that crowd in it. Then the wheels fell off. It happens i get it. We just get so damn conservative and wait forever to make adjustments mostly out of necessity. These are just my opinions. And I rarely post during the game as I am glued to it.
Happy Halloween!

[Tbonespop]

You're correct, tm. There are some who otherwise post very little on the board, just waiting to pounce after our Cats lose a game. Doesn't it just suck that the Cats are "only" 7-1, controlling it's own destiny to the Big XII CG and CFP?

There are ~100 other teams in FBS that wish they were in that position.

Guys it isn't that. It's that these games shouldn't get this close or be this close. IMO. I am very happy they are 7-1. But i firmly believe the Cats are better than BYU and poor conservative play calling kept that crowd in it. Then the wheels fell off. It happens i get it. We just get so damn conservative and wait forever to make adjustments mostly out of necessity. These are just my opinions. And I rarely post during the game as I am glued to it.
Happy Halloween!

I agree with this. The main take away that concerns me at this point is, we should be playing better than we are. The whole "get a little better every day" mantra is greatly in need. We need to come out and slap someone in the face then boat race them. There are 2 things that bother me. 1) Pass defense greatly needs improvement in order to finish strong 2) Consistent, offensive drives producing TDs. I think we are still on pace to exceed the average offensive yards per play better than 1998. But our scoring and big threat big play capability is not consistent. I don't believe it is due to talent either. Its offensive coordination/play calling, and execution by the offense. In the past, we were playing better by this point in the season.

This game against Houston needs to be the breakout game where we make strides for the season and flat out just play better.

[katlander]

I think the problem in the KU game was KU shutting down DJ. I am assuming they were stacking the box, and we failed to exploit their selling out on the run. Consequently, we were not able to sustain long time-consuming scoring drives, and our D was getting tired. I remember seeing Mott all sweaty with his tongue hanging out. We need to be more creative when one facet of our game plan fails. Both WVU and KU have limited DJ's productivity for large portions of the game. I hope we have a plan B ready to go.

[bhoovy]

I think the problem in the KU game was KU shutting down DJ. I am assuming they were stacking the box, and we failed to exploit their selling out on the run. Consequently, we were not able to sustain long time-consuming scoring drives, and our D was getting tired. I remember seeing Mott all sweaty with his tongue hanging out. We need to be more creative when one facet of our game plan fails. Both WVU and KU have limited DJ's productivity for large portions of the game. I hope we have a plan B ready to go.

I’m not sure ku really stacked the box all that much but probably someone like TBones and a few others could talk to that better. But it seemed to me we were just getting the better of us at the LOS. I wish we would have feed Dylan a little more and tried to get him outside. I’m not sure that KU’s LBs are all that quick.

It’s sounding like the game this weekend is going to be played in the rain so hopefully we can get the run established early and often.

[Tbonespop]

I think the problem in the KU game was KU shutting down DJ. I am assuming they were stacking the box, and we failed to exploit their selling out on the run. Consequently, we were not able to sustain long time-consuming scoring drives, and our D was getting tired. I remember seeing Mott all sweaty with his tongue hanging out. We need to be more creative when one facet of our game plan fails. Both WVU and KU have limited DJ's productivity for large portions of the game. I hope we have a plan B ready to go.

I’m not sure ku really stacked the box all that much but probably someone like TBones and a few others could talk to that better. But it seemed to me we were just getting the better of us at the LOS. I wish we would have feed Dylan a little more and tried to get him outside. I’m not sure that KU’s LBs are all that quick.

It’s sounding like the game this weekend is going to be played in the rain so hopefully we can get the run established early and often.

First, I wouldn't exactly claim that KU "shut DJ down". I mean, he had 18 carries for 102 yards and 5.7 YPC. Granted, 1 was a 54 yarder, but that still counts. He also had 1 catch for 15 yards that was caught within the initial 3 yards then with 12 yards after catch breaking tackles. That's 19 touches for 117 total yards. That's 6.2 yards per touch. We've just gotten so spoiled by DJ and DE, anytime he isn't ripping off 10+ yard runs, it feels like he's not effective when he's only putting up normal numbers.

As for KU, they played it about as basic and "Straight up" defensively as you can coach it. They didn't stunt on the dline. They did nothing fancy. They just lined up correctly every single snap in the correct base formation and played hard. When we were in 11 personnel, they had 6 guys in the box. If we went 12 or 13 personnel, they had 7 guys in the box. They never ran 8 guys in the box. Secondary coverages were cover 1 and cover 2 with a mix of man and zone coverage underneath. Everything they lined up in was dictated based on our personnel on offense. This was not them "outscheming us". They out scouted us, and were perfectly prepared based on our presnap set. KU played very physical, they got off blocks, they filled gaps, they were fundamentally sound, they made good tackles - speaking to when they were getting stops. When we got yards, they didn't tackle as well as they needed to. It's really just as simple as their people being well coached, well prepared, and making plays. They won individual battles. But we won battles too. We had nearly 500 total yards of offense - 253 yards passing and 226 yards on the ground.

They made some mistakes, we made some mistakes. Everyone played hard, physical football. KU put up ~400 yards of total offense, we put up 479 yards. I listened to a podcast earlier today and the guy on the cast said KU outplayed us. I disagree. The stats don't agree. Both teams had dropped passes for TDs. KU had 1 more turnover than we did. It was just a hard fought, tough football game between two rivalry teams.

No need to overthink it.

Side note, DJ 8 games into the season is sitting on 945 yards rushing and 197 yards receiving. That's 142 yards per game of total offensive production. He's on pace to hit +1500 yards rushing and 320 yards receiving this year. The dude could hit 2000 yards of total offensive production this year if we get an extra game in the B12 championship game. He's not receiving the accolades he's worthy of folks.