Coach V's Grades: Texas-OU

Here are Coach Venable’s grades after UT’s 24-17 win over No. 10 Oklahoma on Saturday at the Red River Shootout.

OFFENSE

Best gameplan this year. We didn’t throw enough but we stayed with the run effectively. Our short yardage/GL is the best in many years and it’s not all personnel. I couldn’t find a single player that wasn’t laying it all on the line—we kicked butt and made them like it. The packages melded together perfectly. We have a few minor adjustments that need to be shored up but it’s hard to find criticism with this effort. Here are the grades:

13—Heard—A-

Jerrod directed the attack with several key individual plays keeping us on track. He didn’t throw the ball away on bad plays but he did make solid decisions with the ball. He’s fun to watch.

18—Swoopes—A-

Tyrone had another good showing as both the short yardage leader and the regular QB when 13 had to leave early—he did an outstanding job on the play action pass GL td. He’s a load to bring down but that fumble wasn’t good for us fans—shore that up.

32—Gray—B+

Jon ran hard but still hasn’t broken enough tackles—too many ankle tackles that he should step thru. He blocked well and is a great team player—he just might not still be the feature RB with 33’s emergence.

33—Foreman—A-

D’Onta ran the ball with conviction yesterday—he is a bull to bring down. His long run broke the sooners back—he’s faster than most realize. Like this player.

36—Delatorre—A-

Alex is a dependable blocker that finds the correct man every time—his effort is first class and he makes our “big” packages better.

42—Bluiett—A-

Caleb is a for real football player—he’s taken to the TE/H position extremely well. Watching him block (or just play the game) is good for this old coach. The td catch was deserving—he’s my kind of player.

47—Beck—B+

Andrew had a much better game this week—his blocking was sharper and he made a nice catch on his only chance.

1—Burt—A-

John catches the ball when we can get it to his zip code—his blocking helped us move the chains twice.

3—Foreman—B

Armanti had a late hit penalty that was a bad decision but it was being aggressive blocking for his teammate.

5—Joe—A-

Lorenzo had one nice catch for a 1st down and at least five key blocks on chain moving runs—he deserves his snaps.

7—Johnson—A-

Marcus had a great td run (touch catch) where he tightroped the sideline avoiding two tackles along the way. He may not be a bucket of blood but he stuck his facemask into two blocks that allowed 1st downs to be made—how sweet is that.

74—Doyle—B

Taylor had two bad snaps and still had one bad play with 66 on a pass blocking mistake but he played much better staying on blocks on the whole. His second effort was much better—his play also improved.

66—Flowers—B

Sedrick played better but he’s still too slow to pull (and we keep trying) and he allowed (with 74) a defender to come clean between them on a pressure that got to 13. He is still a good drive blocker—his second effort was evident.

77—Vahe—A-

Patrick had a really good game—he buries defenders on pulls and knocks them off the LOS on drive blocks. Pass blocking is still average but he finds a way to get the job done.

55—Williams—A-

Connor had another high quality game at LT. He has so much ability that he makes extremely difficult assignments seem relatively easy. Pass blocking is really good—once he gets more strength/experience he will be as good as it gets.

75—Nickelson—B+

Tristan held up very well in this start—his pass blocking remained solid and his run blocking improved from last week.

65—Hutchins—B+

Marcus played his best game this year. You could tell the game meant enough to him that he gave his best effort—passing and run blocking were above average.

DEFENSE

This was a fun game to watch. When the anticipation outweighs the fear of the unknown it’s possible to have something special occur on the field. We had players play better than they have ever played before. We made every call a good one with want-to. We won the LOS, dominated the run, and harassed the pass with all-out effort.

It’s funny what a challenge to your manhood will make you do in this game. It’s your hated rival. It’s a neutral site. The numbers are even. The only difference is the nation has been laughing at you all week. It’s finally put up or shut up time. The only seats vacant should have orange but several have bailed—they shut up. The experts agree you lose big. Wonder if any of them ever buckled a chin strap in this kind of atmosphere?

We played the best game we have played in a long time. It was our best game because we all gave it our best. Here are the grades:

1—Davis—B+

Shiro had two strong pass rushes and one good pursuit tackle—limited snaps this week but effort was very good.

40—Hughes—B+

Naashon had several quality plays but did have two missed tackles because of wrapping up—stunted well, pursued well, and made many good plays.

91—Cottrell—A-

Bryce had a monster game in his second start—coming home agrees with him. Two outstanding plays including a sack and won the LOS with determined effort. Growing up before our eyes.

90—Omenihu—B

Charles had a solid game but will remember the 48 yard line for a long time—he was welcomed to the RRS with a vicious blindside block while in pursuit of a completed pass. Love his future.

49—Roberson—B

Derick had some snaps and gave strong effort—needs to refine his pass rushing techniques because he could be a force in off scheduled situations.

98—Ridgeway—A-

Hassan had another strong game—won the LOS, forced hurries, made a sack, and limited the ground game to zilch. We are much better when he is on the field—shoulder needs to get right during the bye week.

99–Jackson—B+

Tank had a good game in the trenches but his pursuit was outstanding. He needs to improve his pass rush—he won the LOS but didn’t dent the pocket rushing.

93—Boyette—A-

Paul had his best game at UT. Passion, effort, and leadership came to the front—the RRS is a great place to be your best (ask Gladewater’s own Stoney Clark).

95—Ford—A-

Poona had his best game at UT in the RRS yesterday. Wrecking schemes, creating havoc, and drilling sooners was his mission and he made it look fun.

97—Nelson—A-

Chris got the chance to play the nose and he certainly didn’t disappoint—hitting and sliding is a strong point and he added penetration to the menu—good game.

46—Jefferson—B-

Malik found a move back to OLB (Will) more to his liking and he had several big plays off the edge—the disappointing feature of his play was at least a dozen missed tackles/ pull-ups where he failed to turn it loose while in pursuit of the ball. Not his best effort/game.

19—Jinkens—A-

Peter had his best game at UT, period. He attacked and defeated the correct blocker as a Mike backer—he ran in concert with crossing routes and tackled better in space. Peter made it fun to watch him—how sweet is that.

45—Wheeler—A-

Anthony Wheeler looks like a real LB that’s getting much better with good coaching. He made three outstanding tackles after shucking blocks—the way the game is supposed to be played. I like this guy’s future if he keeps improving at this rate.

21—Thomas—B+

Duke played a variety of roles this week and for the most part did very well. He tackled very well. He stunted well. He stood tough in the box. He missed two tackles and lost another double move but effort was as good as I gets.

25—Davis—B+

Antwuan had a good game—several good hits and effort was top notch. He is still improving and mistakes are going down in numbers.

24—Bonney—C

John didn’t have his best game—two big penalties and two badly missed tackles were mixed in with a few bad reads. Injured in 3rd quarter and didn’t return.

31—Hall—C+

Jason had some really good tackles but his reads from the box lacked conviction—he didn’t play well in space and he isn’t very good against the screen game. We have DB’s that are playing better at this time.

14—Haines—C-

Dylan is a plus safety as an organizer and will hit you if he gets close enough—the trouble is he’s a liability in both man coverage and tackling in space. We desperately need more athletic safeties even if they make alignment/assignment mistakes—his td pass coverage was not D-1 standard and his whiff on the pass in the deep middle (to the GL) is a play every F/S must make. We have DB’s playing better at this time.

9—Davis—A-

Davante provides a physical presence at the corner that we need—he makes bone-jarring tackles while playing solid coverage. He isn’t playing enough—starting would be better.

5—Hill—A-

Holton Hill is one outstanding corner—he made five top of the line tackles in team support where he pursued into making the play. He was the best DB on the field in the RRS—this guy can play this game.

4 Elliott had two great KO tackles including a caused fumble.