Tuesday, August 23
How Sweed it would be
Limas Sweed says he’s ready. The 6’5” receiver, a sophomore this year, has, on all accounts, worked his ass off during the offseason to improve, as outlined in this lengthy feature article on him. It won’t be hard for him to improve. Sweed, like every Texas receiver not named David Thomas last year, stunk. He was passive, he ran crappy routes, and he got muscled around by smaller cornerbacks.
That’s all going to change this year, Sweed says. Sweed, who chose to wear Roy Williams’ #4 jersey, has worked on being more physical, running crisper routes, and being more assertive on the field. He even spent time this summer working with Roy Williams himself, learning some “tricks of the trade.”
The motto around here at All Things Longhorn is “talk is cheap,” but in this case, I’m desperately hoping that this is true. Texas will not run the table if it can’t open up the field and complete some long passes, and apparently, Sweed’s our best shot to do so. Forget the questions surrounding Vince Young’s passing ability. Whether they are legitimate or not is another debate, but last year he had nobody to throw to. Tony Jeffrey made one enormously important catch, Sweed was a ghost, and that’s about all there was to speak of. Texas had a strong enough defense last year; what they didn’t have was a passing attack. Bob Stoops knew it, spent a lot of energy keeping Benson from going wild, and shut out the Horns. Believe me, he’ll do it again if we remain unable to stretch the field with some passing.
You’re going to hear a lot of discussion about the running backs and replacing Cedric Benson. Trust me, it’s not nearly as important as getting a real passing game going. Texas football is like the Denver Broncos: it doesn’t matter that much who’s doing the running. (And between Vince Young, Selvin Young, and Ramonce Taylor, there will be plenty of rushing yards.) It matters far more that Texas establishes a legitimate passing threat.
I’m not the only one who seems to realize this, of course. Greg Davis is talking a lot about how Texas will in fact be stretching the field with deeper throws this year. It’s about time, Greg. I almost vomited in Simms, Williams, and B.J. Johnson’s senior year when Davis kept calling those plays with the ridiculous horizontal passes that went nowhere. It’s so easy to gameplan against it’s not funny. Let’s hope Davis has evolved enough to understand how crucial it is in the college game to be able to pass the ball. And let’s hope Limas Sweed is indeed ready to catch it.
--PB--
That’s all going to change this year, Sweed says. Sweed, who chose to wear Roy Williams’ #4 jersey, has worked on being more physical, running crisper routes, and being more assertive on the field. He even spent time this summer working with Roy Williams himself, learning some “tricks of the trade.”
The motto around here at All Things Longhorn is “talk is cheap,” but in this case, I’m desperately hoping that this is true. Texas will not run the table if it can’t open up the field and complete some long passes, and apparently, Sweed’s our best shot to do so. Forget the questions surrounding Vince Young’s passing ability. Whether they are legitimate or not is another debate, but last year he had nobody to throw to. Tony Jeffrey made one enormously important catch, Sweed was a ghost, and that’s about all there was to speak of. Texas had a strong enough defense last year; what they didn’t have was a passing attack. Bob Stoops knew it, spent a lot of energy keeping Benson from going wild, and shut out the Horns. Believe me, he’ll do it again if we remain unable to stretch the field with some passing.
You’re going to hear a lot of discussion about the running backs and replacing Cedric Benson. Trust me, it’s not nearly as important as getting a real passing game going. Texas football is like the Denver Broncos: it doesn’t matter that much who’s doing the running. (And between Vince Young, Selvin Young, and Ramonce Taylor, there will be plenty of rushing yards.) It matters far more that Texas establishes a legitimate passing threat.
I’m not the only one who seems to realize this, of course. Greg Davis is talking a lot about how Texas will in fact be stretching the field with deeper throws this year. It’s about time, Greg. I almost vomited in Simms, Williams, and B.J. Johnson’s senior year when Davis kept calling those plays with the ridiculous horizontal passes that went nowhere. It’s so easy to gameplan against it’s not funny. Let’s hope Davis has evolved enough to understand how crucial it is in the college game to be able to pass the ball. And let’s hope Limas Sweed is indeed ready to catch it.
--PB--
Comments:
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psyched about the Texas OSU matchup? you have to check this video out: http://www.phase22.com/Lets_Do_This_Thing.wmv
it has mainly Ohio State clips but also has excellent longhorn stuff from the rose bowl and the Oklahoma State game.
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it has mainly Ohio State clips but also has excellent longhorn stuff from the rose bowl and the Oklahoma State game.
# posted by 
: 8/24/2005 3:16 AM
: 8/24/2005 3:16 AM << Home |
