Coach V's grades: Texas-KSU

Here are Coach Venable’s grades from UT’s 23-0 loss to Kansas State on Saturday. Summer school may be required.

Texas threw five of the first six plays. Chalk up two three-and-outs despite gaining six yards on the lone running play. It went downhill from that point forward. UT is aces and spaces with this offensive group.

The best block of the day was by Swaim (82) on the last kickoff return I graded. He decleated Colbert (26).

Here are the grades – OFFENSE

18—Swoopes—C

he threw for 106 and ran for 31—he leaves the pocket early at times—he refuses to step up when the speed rushers are forced around and deep—he threw bullets but too many were well oft target—he stills floats on flow passes which makes him throw across his body—underthrew a sure six to Ship—delivered three excellent runs on zone keeps—had a terrific throw on a corner route to 7—must start getting the unit out of the huddle quicker—good throw on curl to 8—bootlegs are not a run/pass option because of the path ran by Ty—effort is outstanding but execution is spotty at best.

33—Foreman had two good runs but fumbled a reverse handoff.

28—Brown—B

gained 21 yards in six carries—good pass block—good lead block—no yards after contact—kinda sorta disappeared this week.

32—Gray—B-

gained 24 yards on ten carries—lost one yard on his only catch—good lead block—good pass block on an OL whiff—bad miss of hole on 4th and 1—missed hole four times in all—not a good game and definitely not playing up to his skill level.

7—Johnson—B

good corner route catch for 21 yards—zero factor in blocking—isn’t separating well enough to get QB’s attention.

8—Shipley—B

caught four passes for grand total of 25 yards—good block on sweep—good catch on curl route for 1st down—should have had td catch but was badly underthrown.

9—Harris—B

42 yards on 3 catches—one drop—good block on sweep—good jumping catch for 1st down—good block on zone read keep.

82—Swaim—B+

18 yards on 3 catches—good catch/run on Y delay—good block sweep—good block zone read keep—good block on jet sweep—good lead block.

85—McFarland—B-

good block sweep—BRB—isn’t playing with hustle energy too often.

74—Doyle—C+

BRB zone read—three high snaps that forced QB to jump (throws off timing)—good block zr—BPB—BPB.

66—Flowers—B-

good block zr—BPB—good block draw—good block zr—BRB—good block power.

76—Perkins—C

injured 1st play—BPB inside—holding penalty—good block zr—good block draw—BPB—BRB—good block power.

52—James—C+

BPB inside with twist—good block zr—BPB—good block zone—played all at RG.

65—Hutchins—C-
false start penalty—BPB inside—good block zr—good pass block on drive past pocket—good block zr keep—good block draw—BPB—BPB play action—good block zr.

71—Hughes—C-

BPB twist—BPB inside—good block zr—GPB on drive past pocket—good block zr keep—BPB—good block sweep—BPB play action—BRB QB keep—BPB

On the other side, Kansas State is well coached. We tipped our hand too often. We don’t have a clue about running a zone underneath or deep. We are fresh out of LB’s when Hicks makes mistakes—we better recruit enough backers to play next year cause this dog won’t (can’t) bite. We need help at safety.

Our two DT’s played well until the last two pukie minutes when they stood up and watched. Reed was solid but less than special while the other three were just sad to watch.

We are flat out of playmakers at LB but they make up for it by being mistake oriented across the board. We had one cornerback play extremely well in a mistake prone secondary.

Thank you, Mykkele Thompson — you were a pleasure to watch.

Here are the grades – DEFENSE

88—Reed—B

6 tackles—good tackle power—good tackle GL—good tackle zr—good tfl on sweep—MT sweep—great hustle tackle on screen—good punt tackle—blocked on late zr.

40—Hughes—C-

1 tackle—missed assignment on zr (QB keep)—face mask penalty—hooked on bounce outside—MT—lack of hustle pursuit.

42—Bluiett—B-

7 tackles—3 tfl—sack—hooked and driven 10 yards on sweep—coverage sack—good tackle zr—blocked lost contain—good pursuit tackle—poor GL play—MT.

1—Davis missed the attitude bus.

90—Brown—B+

5 tackles—good pursuit tackle—good tackle GL—5 star pursuit tackle GL—good pursuit tackle—good pass rush—good tackle power—blocked last drive.

98—Ridgeway—B+

6 tackles—3 tfl—sack—big hit sack—big hit tfl on sweep—good tackle zr—blocked last drive.

93—Boyette—not a good effort this week in super limited play.

3—Hicks—B-

3 tackles—3 QBH’s—punt tackle—good tackle zr—big hit tackle on QB—good tackle zr—poor meeting of lead block—blocked—blocked—bad read—poor zone coverage.

33—Edmond—C

4 tackles—2 tfl—hooked on contain sweep—good tackle lead—blocked zr—blocked zr—good tackle (tfl) on GL—3 poor drops in coverage—blocked zr—good tackle option pitch—good tackle screen—blocked power.

55—Santos—bad

no tackles—blocked—blocked—poor scrap (too wide)—bad angle—MT—blocked—couldn’t find a good play.

19—Jinkins—C

3 tackles—punt tackle—false start penalty on punt—two edge stunt tackles on zr’s away (only two good plays)—hooked and driven 8 yards deep—blocked zr—blocked into end zone on td run—lost contain on GL td—blocked 7 yards deep on power—blocked power—MT GL on edge stunt.

7—Cobbs—B

3 tackles—good hustle tackle—good tackle zr—MT—good hit tackle on boundary—good scrap—needs to play much more considering the alternative.

2—Thompson—A-

11 tackles—tfl—GOFT sweep—GOFT zr—GOFT GOFT—sack—GOFT–good edge stunt tackle (tfl)—good tackle sweep—bad coverage on scramble—GOFT.

6—Diggs—B

3 tackles—PBU—GOFT—good PBU slant on GL—MT—big hit slant—MT.

21—Thomas—C

6 tackles—2 PBU—MT sweep—Pass interference penalty (2)—GOFT hitch—MT bounce outside—GOFT—good tackle curl—beat deep slant and go—beat deep—good PBU slant.

44—Haines—C

5 tackles—GOFT—MT screen—MT screen—MT—MT GL—good tackle sweep.

31—Hall—B

3 tackles—GOFT—dropped interception—good tackle screen—GOFT—we need to get Jason closer to the action.

COACH VENABLE’S GRADING SCALE:

My grading system is based on total points earned against number of plays played. The points are awarded individually on each and every separate play. There are five different possible grades for each play. Players may earn a plus three (3) for a five star type play—-plus two (2) for above average execution—-plus one (1) for doing their job successfully—-zero (0) for getting beat but knowing and attempting their assignment—-and minus 3 (-3) for a missed assignment.

Each player has a total number of points and a total number of his own individual plays. You divide the total number of plays into the total number of points which gives you scale. The grading scale is as follows:

Any player averaging one point per play (1.0) grades out a B which is winning football. If a player plays 60 plays with 60 total points he would earn a passing grade—each point he goes over the total number of plays raises his grade accordingly. The system is built around rewarding any player that doesn’t beat himself or his team with mental mistakes.

The system also punishes any player that knows what to do but loses too many individual battles. If a player plays 60 plays but loses 10 of those with zero special plays (60 plays—50 points) he falls below the 1.0 needed for a passing grade of B.

I use the plus/minus (A-, B+, etc,) when the numbers indicate a partial add or subtract from the grade. This system was used by my first coaching staff and I kinda carried it with me for thirty years—it’s not perfect but it gives the position coach a measuring stick for his individual players.

The only way to earn the highest grade of A is to play a perfect game. I’ve had exactly zero up to right now so great games still can be better so A- is a very popular second best. This system and my grades will always be subjective filled with agree and disagree opinions. It’s entirely fair for disagreement (without it we might not have horse races) but it’s important to remember that each play only counts once instead of allowing a big mistake to have major influence on an individual’s final grade.

ACRONYMS
Shortcuts to reduce typing overload.

BRB—beat on a run block.

BPB—beat on a pass block.

GL—goal line.

SY—short yardage.

MT—missed tackle.

MA—missed assignment.

GFT—good fill tackle.

GOFT—good open field tackle.

PBU—pass break up.

tfl—tackle for loss.

5 star—play that most can’t make.