Horns247 Board

BTW, coaches charted 12 missed tackles against Oklahoma State. Three of those accounted for 109 yards of total offense, per Mack on the Big 12 teleconference.

Evans, Jackson are two names that I think need to be given a shot. Cobbs, Phillips are two guys that need to lose some playing time.

Colbert's not ready for full-time duty.

Evans is close, but still not there.

I still think the best solution is to give Sheroid Evans some time in the slot and swap Phillips for Vaccarro that is what I would do.

DeMarco Cobbs is just not physical enough to play LB in College. Edmond seems to have issues wrapping up as well and I think he just gets winded easily. I would love for Tevin Jackson to get some snaps.

What about Duke Thomas? Could he play the slot?

I think Evans has to get more PT during the game when it's on the line. I think he will shine when given a chance. Plus his speed certainly won't hurt as a safety valve next week against Austin, et al. And you don't have to worry as much about WVU's rushing attack.

I'm glad that players jobs are on the line but they should always be on the line. I'd like to see coaching and development.

What I don't know is if the message and coaching is being ignored or simply not emphasized enough. It's fundamentals. Players at this point shouldn't even have to think about wrapping up. It's should be instinctive.

Someone mentioned it but I think partly b/c of emphasis in the media (ESPN Hit of the Week, etc.) and partly b/c of emphasis by our coaches the players are looking to make big hits and create turnovers. The emphasis should be on sound fundamentals and the rest will come.

On the job training ftw.

If so, then that makes no sense. I see far more fumbles when a tackler wraps up than not. Reason being a lot of the time their arms/hands clasping around the ball carrier jostles it free.

A big part of the problem is experience at linebacker. Right now, we're robbing peter to pay paul. Schematically, we're freeing up Vaccaro to make up for alignment and experience issues at linebacker. It's stressing the safeties beyond what they can handle. The result is that we're rarely able to get there in time to square up and make a good tackle.

A lot of that is scheme. Remember, it took us more than half a year to get our Senior linebackers to a good reliable performance last year.

Also, OSU and to a lesser degree Ole Miss were offenses specifically created to instill indecision at the linebacker and safety spots. Perfect storm, in my opinion.

It will get a little better when we get Hicks back, but it will take a little while to get these guys performing like we need. The offense is going to have to stay strong through the next 2 games.

Remember much of the issues are with new and younger players. This is probably the first time many of them can not run under a block and make a tackle behind the line. The reasons they lack the fundamentals are the same reasons they are at Texas.