All Things Longhorn: Point, Counterpoint: Saturday's Psychological Edge

Wednesday, November 9

Point, Counterpoint: Saturday's Psychological Edge

We've argued that Mark Mangino's BCS conspiracy rantings, coupled with his comments that KU outplayed and outcoached the Horns, gave Texas a psychological edge. Our reasoning is that Kansas' best hope for beating Texas this year, given the ridiculous talent gap, is catching Texas flat. Such "bulletin board material" merely angers Goliath; not a good idea.

Our friendly rivals at the Kansas Phog Blog, not surprisingly, offer a different take on the psychological battle:

The first time in history in which the previous year’s winner is seeking revenge. Vince Young says Mangino disrespected him and his coaches by pointing out that UT was outplayed and out-coached last year. (News flash: the next time Mack Brown out-coaches anyone will be the first time. And a 20+ point favorite having to rely on a dishonest call to defeat a 4-7 team? If that’s not being outplayed, what is?) Young says the Longhorns intend to dominate the game to teach Mangino a lesson.

The good news is that Young’s whining means either that UT (a) is not taking KU seriously and grasping at straws for artificial motivation that will disappear after the first few plays; or (b) is seriously focused on Mangino—which is a distraction—rather than focusing on playing football.

Either way, KU has the psychological advantage.

Okay readers, it's on you now. Offer your own analysis on this topic of debate. Is the Mark Mangino blathering a distraction, or positive motivation, for Texas this Saturday?
--PB--

# posted by PB at BON @ 1:56 PM

Comments:

Absolutely positive. What was it that a Baylor defensive player said? We can beat Texas if...? How did that work out for ya? Obviously they responded to the bulliten board material there. If KU doesn't respect Texas, they and Boi are the only ones in the country.

-John

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 2:11 PM

Kansas? REALLY?

Even if Kansas has a psychological edge, that's not going to push the ball across the goal line. Your confidence and brain power isn't going to catch or stop Vince Young, neither will Kansas' third-rate players. This discussion is pointless because it's KANSAS. Rock cock Jayhawk.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 2:27 PM

Who cares? Texas does not need any advantage to kick the shit out of KU. KU might win if we decide to only play defence because we wanted to give our offence a week off.

# posted by

Wells : 11/09/2005 2:27 PM

All this will be moot in a few days anyhow. The Horns had their let down game in OSU 2 weeks ago. No way that happens again. KU's defense will finally get a real test, and will come up lacking. UT rolls over KU by 4+ TDs.

Brandon '97

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 2:32 PM

Seriously, the only thing that is distracting Saturday for Vince is whos sister on the Jayhawks team he is going to nail later that night.

Adam

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 2:35 PM

Hopefully not Mangino's sister. She CAN'T be hot.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 2:49 PM

Congrats KU, You have the Psychological edge. I think this consitiutes a swing of (and I am going to be generous here) seven points. You still lose by 28. Enjoy your moral victory. By the way Mark Fatgino would not have to complain about the call if you could stop Vince. 4th and 18 falls entirely on the coaching staff and the players. Finally, I am really sick of hearing that Mack can't coach, he is on a 16 game win streak and he has not lost in over a year. Who, exactly, do you think is coaching this team?

Bill

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 2:50 PM

Great point Bill. I would guess that some might say it is pure luck that we won the Rose Bowl, in the Shoe etc. Can't be the coaching. Saying Mack is a good coach is like calling Mangino stocky. It's a gross understatement.

Adam

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 2:58 PM

Bill, I disagree with you. You shouldn't get tired of hearing how Mack can't coach, rather get used to it because its gonna be a story leading up to the Rose Bowl. We all agree that Vince Young is an amazing player and I would go as far as to say that if he called the plays, Texas would still be undefeated and headed for the Rose Bowl. Mack has done nothing to be qualified as a good coach, recruiting does not count. Because if it does, then we should annoint Phil Fulmer coach of the year. Chizik is doing a great job on defense, but Vince runs the show with simple schemes and quarterback scrambles. Please don't insult college football by calling Brown a great coach. ~Jo_Blo

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 3:18 PM

Forgive KU fans. They are a basketball school without a ranked basketball team. This gridiron talk is a new concept for them.

-Roy Williams (Go Heels)

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 3:28 PM

Jo_Blo trolling again. With more dumb comments. Don't you have a USC blog you can go blather on?

Seriously, you're a total Simpleton with no real perspective to offer. Go away.

If Mack Brown isn't a good coach, then neither is Bobby Bowden. You'd might as well strip him of his national titles.

Is Mack Brown the best coach around? No. Is he a very good football coach, by any reasonable standard? Yes. Any standard that disqualifies Mack Brown from being a good coach is ridiculous.

Go cheerlead with BFT. You two can make bad arguments together.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 3:29 PM

espn.com had an article from Pat Forde which offered up Mack as coach of the year - he isn't too serious or too smart, but it does say something about what Mack has done. anyone who thinks he is anything less than a good coach has no business talking about college football. a head college football coach is so much more than a play caller - if my head coach can recruit great players, and have smart offensive and defensive coordinators, then i could care less if makes a single call all season. the bottom line is winning and Mack is currently one of the best in the country at that.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2217362

-MH

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 3:56 PM

Jo Blo,

Where did I say great coach? Please learn to read. For the record he has won over 80% of his games at Texas, or do you believe it is all talent. If that is your stance you obviuosly do not understand football.

Bill

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 4:06 PM

Bill,you're right you didn't say "great" but I assumed it was implied by the nature of your post. I believe most of it is talent, especially with the current 16 game winning streak. I just don't understand why everyone thinks Mack Brown is a great coach, I can't remember a time where he outcoached anyone for that matter. In fact, Vince Young has bailed him out at the Rose Bowl and most recently, against Oklahoma State. Until he begged voters for the Rose Bowl last year, everyone was calling for his head because he couldn't beat Oklahoma, couldn't win the big game..etc. Now all of a sudden, he is a great coach again. Give credit where credit is due, my friend. And for the record Pat Forde's columns suck

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 5:20 PM

The Mack haters are right, he just plain sucks. I want Mackovic back, or give us Franchione, or Callahan; I just hate where the Longhorn Program is headed.

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 5:36 PM

Jo Blo,

What I think of Mack is: good coach, Great recruiter and smart enough to delegate the defense to Chizick. I think his problem is he is too loyal to Simms and Greg Davis specifically. I think he is more of the CEO of the program, but right now he is the second best coach in div ! and 117 other coaches would gladly switch places with him.

Bill

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 5:45 PM

I think Jo_Blo is actually trying to sound more ignorant than BoiFromTroy. Neither actually give good arguements and are factually incorrect. Jo_Blo(job).. Name 1 coach at either the college level or the pro level that handles as much duty as you claim Mack should. Should he call all of the plays on offense and defense? In fact he does neither. Greg Davis is calling the offense and Gene Chizick for the defense. He has, however, called for a more open and fun game plan this year. How has that worked out for him? Not too bad. I understand your biased. That's fine. So am I. But your idiotic comments not only come across as homer, but just plain stupid. Would Mack still be a poor coach if he beat your little Trojan boys? Or would there be some excuse for that too? The fact is Mack recruited Vince for a reason. To win games. And he's doing a good job. Would Vince even be here if it weren't for Mack? No, probably not. But that is what a coach does.
And to a previous post you and many other Trojan fans have pointed out (the 'Horns are one dropped pass away from a loss), THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO CATCH THE BALL!!! I guess we can say the Trojans are one lack of a push away from a loss too. What say you about that?

-John

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 6:36 PM

Mack routinely gets out-coached. He finally has amassed the talent where it usually doesn't matter. Without Vince however, the Horns lose to Ohio State and Okla. State, possibly Tech and Oklahoma too. That phantom interference against the Sooners was huge, costing them a turnover and momentum. Mark my words -- the A&M game will be a nail-biter, we could easily lose to Colorado in the Big 12 Championship. And if we get back to Pasadena, guaranteed USC will kick our butts. Hate to say it, but that's the reality. Agree with whoever said Mack is more a CEO than a coach. Brilliant move to bring in Chizik. Stupid decision to keep Davis around. Yes, Mack is a great recruiter. But that is very different from being a great game-day coach. Keep winning the battles in February, and Brown will be around to tease us for a long time....
Hook'em!

# posted by

Anonymous : 11/09/2005 7:05 PM

Bear Bryant is considered one of the best coaches of all time. He spent hardly any time coaching. He busted his ass recruiting and performing symbolic gestures such as visiting booster club events or other prominent alumni functions.

What the fuck is the problem with Mack? College coaches these days are expected to do so much shit; they have to divide their time not only coaching, but managing their bigass staffs, raising shitloads of money, and of course, recruiting. All these tasks fit under the umbrella of head coach, with regard to college football. Maybe he doesn't do some play by play shit, but what coach does, in any sport for that matter?

The point is, Mack got the talent to commit to UT, not by sitting around doing nothing but by busting his sweet-talkin recruiting ass, no doubt about it. And now that this talent is at his disposal he has prudently taken advice from multiple voices and processed this along with his staff to create schemes and individual plays in which his players will most likely thrive. For godsakes, being a good coach doesn't necessarily require one to map out every yard and angle of every pass or run. You cannot accuse Mack of poor coaching because he and his staff have created a system in which his team dominates, on both sides of the ball. And no, it's not so simple as, "well if Vince hadn't bailed him out this and that...." Look no further than aTm to find an example of how an amazing QB talent can go to waste at the hands of a clumsy coach. I will say that Vince has been out-of-this-world at critical moments -- and thank goodness for that --, but the cumulative success of the Longhorns rests on the shoulders of Mack as much as it does his players.

Wow, I don't usually get this emotional until kickoff time.

peace! and hook 'em!
-Lucas

# posted by

Kool Hand : 11/09/2005 7:18 PM

Folks still banging on Greg Davis, huh? I don't know, seems like he's doing pretty well this year. He has the perfect system in place to take advantage of what Vince does best. He's putting receivers with limited experience (and still questionable talent) in great postition to make plays and he's making great adjustments (note the two tight end sets the past couple of weeks that worked so well). In my opinion he still wasted the best receivers in college football for a couple of years in a row, and he waited too long to Free Vince, but the man has shown that he can learn from mistakes and adjust. Let's give credit where it's due.

- Eric

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Wednesday, November 9

Point, Counterpoint: Saturday's Psychological Edge

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