4 Hard Downs: My Setup, Texas Wins, Colorado 3 Big Thoughts & Bama Going Forward

If you're gonna go out, go out swinging plus thanks Texas for showing us Bama isn't just a QB issue and some cool Buffs things

Texas Fight!!

What a win for the Longhorns and for Steve Sarkesian.

I did not think that when Bama got the lead that Texas was going to put their foot on the gas and say, “not tonight, we got this shit.” It was a very revealing point for this season for both teams:

-Texas has the juice offensively to get it going.

-Bama, in the words of a Texas fan friend, doesn’t scare anyone this season.

Two things that don’t spell Texas’ ultimate success or Bama’s demise but certainly are a snapshot, in week two, that let us know you either get better or you get worse. There’s some good to Alabama and on Thursday I am going to offer a solution that we saw from Bama and USC that should make things more difficult for the opposition.

But for now, Texas has earned the praise, I didn’t think it would happen, they did it and Sark got it done. Congrats, now finish the drill because this is just the start of not just a season of living up to expectations that have been lifted, but also a future where this game is a near yearly thing.

Now…SPOT THE BALL!!!

1st Down: Colorado Has A Lot To Like

Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter were the darlings of week one but God help me if Jordan Domineck has not entered the chat. Not stealing the spotlight, just there to share it.

Sanders’ footwork is amazing. It is like a QB was taught by footwork kings, defensive backs, not slow plodding guys, on how to operate in the pocket. Light feet. Machine gun feet (a phrase I’ve heard Deion say in person at the Under Armor Future 50). Quick feet that are decisive and push to make plays and avoid traffic. They’re lovely.

Hunter is a monster. Not as many snaps this game, but not by much. He’s explosive and his effort is maybe his most underrated quality. Yes, he is super talented and athletic but he never takes a play off and that is something that you can’t both can’t birth or teach. It is a decision he makes every time he walks on to the field. There are a lot of guys with his talent level who decide good enough is enough instead of best is better.

Now, Domineck.

Colorado is small up front. However, they are fast. Penetration is their answer.

Do you get gashed living on penetration in a world of stunts, slants, pressures etc? Sure. But you also create chaos and confusion.

We saw it happen with TCU against “the best OL in the country” last season in the playoff. They gave Michigan the blues, and not in a Go Blue way. TFLs and Sacks all day. We saw Colorado not be able to do it against TCU and TCU had a good offensive day, they lost because their defense couldn’t get stops.

Then against Nebraska they were able to get off, led by Domineck.

Stunts. Slants. Pressures. Penetration was their game. They went from 0 plays behind the line to 2 sacks and 6 TFLs, not including the pressure they brought that ended up in zero sum plays.

I don’t know if they can do this all year. But I am excited to watch them prove folks, including myself, wrong as we get into the season.

2nd Down: Here Is My Setup, Living In A Spectrum vs Disney, World

For those who are not impacted by this: There is a huge swath of the country where all Disney properties that aren’t ABC local are not available to Spectrum customers. I am one of those customers. It sucks and stinks and literally it is mega conglomerates pretending they care about us vs squeezing us for an extra buck.

So now I have FuboTV for ESPN while I wait to see if this is resolved. Full disclosure, I am already in for a penny, in for a pound with Spectrum for the rest of the month and I don’t want to deal with my wife or kid not knowing how to get to their channels. Fubo means I have to use Safari to get to this setup, not Chrome:

2 waters, sweat towel, tissues, headphones, more water, Body Armor, oh & screens

Fubo or Peacock on iPad. 3 Safari Windows with Fubo on the Monitor. TV with Spectrum. Laptop is for email, gchat and twitter (or X, whatever). The lollipops are just for my kid, she gets 1 a week and we have like 100, so we never run out.

That’s how I do it.

3rd Down: Can We Look Past Milroe?

I drew a flow chart because I am tired of Jalen Milroe being the go to “he is the problem” for Alabama:

Basically, we can start at Milroe, but which of these pass catchers would you sub out for Amari Cooper, Julio Jones, Calvin Ridley, Jaylen Waddle, Jameson Williams, Henry Ruggs, Slade Bolden, John Metchie and whoever else I forgot?

Oh, none.

OJ Howard vs who?

Najee Harris, Brian Robinson, Trent Richardson, Derrick Henry, Mark Ingram, Glen Coffee, TJ Yeldon, Eddie Lacy, Josh Jacobs, Damien Harris, Jahmyr Gibbs, Kenyan Drake?

Oh, none.

This is not a one player problem. QB is the easy answer because he is just fine, not Tua or Bryce or even Jalen. Sure.

If he had any of those guys we just mentioned around him; and this isn’t even getting into the OL being fine, not elite, they probably win Saturday. This isn’t AJ McCarron, John Parker Wilson or Greg McElroy football where 17 gets you a dub. This is weapons on weapons and Bama, like Clemson minus Will Shipley, doesn’t weapons that strike fear.

More specifically, as someone who has done draft work for a decade, weapons that are going to be picked on day one.

Bryce, Tua and Jalen were very good QBs, that’s why they’re starting in the NFL. They also had a gang of first and second day picks around them to spread the football around to every play.

We gotta look past Milroe as the easy answer and realize Bama is going through a spot where they have to find out who their players and playmakers are for 2023.

And don’t even get me started on a very talented secondary that is still trying to learn how to play together and communicate.

Not an excuse, Texas beat their ass, but things I am watching for as the season progresses to see if Ole Miss, LSU, Tennessee and whoever else can also do the same.

4th Down: Special Teams Is My Anti-Drug

I love special teams.

If defense is the foundation and offense is the house, special teams is the HVAC and plumbing of the house.

And don’t no one want to go to a house with no plumbing or A/C.

Same for winning without special teams. You can’t do it. It can’t happen.

Texas made a hell of a decision on special teams and I saw it off the rip and was yelling at the screen. Here it is:

Thanks ESPN!

Not covering that guy was insane and it cost Bama. Sure, they had enough guys on the field but to not have a jammer on the slot gave him a free run to down that football. Gorgeous from Texas and something that I will be watching for both out of them and across the nation.

I also love what Colorado did in terms of coverage. Just great coverage. A missed opportunity at first but swarming and forcing fair catches in general is a win for the punt team.

So thanks Fox but also to Colorado and Texas for scratching that itch. Tomorrow we will figure out what to do with weather delays, overtimes (Paul R) for play tracking. It is a nightmare. I think I am going to go ahead and do the stopwatch ads vs football move but just track the football for one game, not the ads. We’ll see.

Cheers!!