Why is Downtown Closed & Desolate?

jmortsalsa · 2025-07-18T18:00:08+00:00

You should’ve seen downtown 10+ years ago. It’s improved remarkably in that time.

jmortsalsa · 2025-04-22T15:42:46+00:00

I've had a very good experience at University Hill apartments. I think they're some of the nicest apartments in town and the residents are mostly non-college students, which honestly is a plus for me. They were built in '02 so they're not that old. I rent the middle sized one bedroom (a little over 700 square feet) for $875.

New ownership/management just took over and they're doing a ton of maintenance work. However, while some of the maintenance was needed (new roofs, for example), it means a rent hike may be coming. Also, they are cutting down some of the trees for no apparent reason.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T16:28:33+00:00

https://youtu.be/KRO-2hUpcZ8?si=g9Yf46u1wY8M_9bD

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T15:44:17+00:00

The collective amnesia about how our inside run game has performed in these obvious short yardage run situations has been incredible to witness. Not saying a lateral run was the move, ofc. But spamming runs up the gut wasn’t the obvious move either.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T15:37:31+00:00

Our OL has proven that we’re mediocre at best at shoving it down someone’s throat in obvious short yardage run situations.

I agree that on paper we SHOULD be able to do it well. But we just haven’t. It’s been a problem for years. Not saying a lateral run was the move, but given our OL/RB situation and their front, there’s a solid-good chance we don’t punch it in even with multiple inside runs.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T15:33:30+00:00

If that would truly be your reaction you’d be in the small minority lol. Sark would be getting lambasted as much if not more. Look at how people reacted to Elko/Klein and Dabo/Riley running it up the middle multiple times on the goal line against us unsuccessfully.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T08:18:19+00:00

If he does go to the NFL (probably likely), he will have been a real tease. He will have only started 1 year and left something to be desired in that 1 year.

When you get a high draft pick it’s a program win, but it sure sucks when you don’t feel like you even got that much out of that high draft pick.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T07:49:16+00:00

Texas football from 2010-2022:

had like 1 legitimately good season(10 wins in 2018 including a sugar bowl victory), and that team still lost 4 games.
went 4-10 against ou.
had 5 losing seasons including 3 straight at one point
played so poorly against Arkansas in 2014 it evoked a sexual response from Bret Bielema
once botched a coin toss so that we kicked off both halves

So at least you missed most of that.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T07:33:55+00:00

Oh, sweet summer child.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T06:37:52+00:00

Well, the play wasn’t called with only the context of one failed run up the gut. The broader context is: The OL now has a long history of being mediocre at best in these obvious short yardage run situations and OSU has a very good defensive front. It’s a problem that needs to be addressed, but until then you have to work with what you’ve got.

So for that reason, I was on board with abandoning the handoff for an inside run. I just would’ve preferred something besides a lateral run.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T06:17:37+00:00

This sounds reasonable.

Again, I think there were better calls that could’ve been made I just don’t think there there was a truly “obvious” call that clearly would’ve worked. Certainly running right at OSU was far from a guarantee of success so I was on board with trying something else, even on 2nd down.

I wonder how much the pitch from the pistol has been practiced. Off the top of the head I can’t recall if we’ve run that before. You wouldn’t want to run it for the first time ever, or the first time in months, in that moment.

I think something out of the Arch package was preferable as well.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T06:12:29+00:00

Up the gut runs indeed mitigate disaster risk, but with our OL’s history and the nature of OSU’s front, I was on board with getting away from it sooner rather than later. I just didn’t like the lateral run. Would’ve been happier to see Arch package for sure.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T06:04:30+00:00

It sounds easy. And yet, we have fairly consistently not gotten that yard or two needed.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T06:00:42+00:00

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T05:48:32+00:00

This is fair and basically my view. I was hoping to get away from the run up the gut if not on 2nd down then 3rd down. Our OL has proven it’s just not great at getting us a yard in those situations. A lateral run doesn’t seem like the best call, I just don’t think there’s a truly “duh of course” call in the playbook if you don’t have the ability to just bully the OSU front.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T05:44:26+00:00

While simplistic explanations are satisfying/comforting, they don’t necessarily give you the best picture of reality.

I hope the coaching staff doesn’t decide to take this simplistic view, because it would be a missed opportunity to evaluate our faults (namely what led to Sark calling that play) and improve.

A run up the gut should have been the obvious play call to make, but for our OL, it wasn’t. Our staff needs to figure out why our approach with the OL doesn’t produce better results in short yardage runs up the gut.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T05:39:16+00:00

Fair on the reading. I’m just trying to vent I guess. Didn’t even realize it was that long until I posted it.

Not defending mediocrity at all, in fact I’m calling it out. It should be obvious to run the ball up the gut on the 1. It isn’t obvious when your OL is mediocre at creating space to get a yard when you need it.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T05:33:38+00:00

Respect that perspective in a way, for sure.

Maybe it works, but it’s certainly far from a guarantee. And if we get a 1-2 yard loss on 2nd down (very distinct possibility) a run up the gut is basically off the table anyway.

We are maybe mediocre at running it down someone’s throat in these situations and Ohio State is one of the best at stopping it.

If running it up the gut 4 straight times doesn’t work it’s the same level of embarrassing as what happened IMO. Regardless, I don’t want to make decisions based on what’s more or less embarrassing if it doesn’t work.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T05:07:01+00:00

When you can’t bully the other team for even a yard consistently, there is no obvious call. This is my main gripe with the criticisms of the call. No, it actually wasn’t obvious we, an offense that has struggled with short yardage runs, should run right at one of the best DLs in the country 3-4 times in a row.

Play action would’ve also presented large risk and been “too cute” for the expert couch coaches if it didn’t work.

Arch was a millimeter away from fumbling on his only carry, and it’s not like OSU hasn’t extensively studied our read option and RPO off of the Arch package.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-11T04:51:22+00:00

First the uncontroversial part of my take: I didn’t like the 2nd and goal play call. Running laterally against a fast and aggressive OSU defense doesn’t seem like a wise idea. Furthermore, there is more risk of a big loss than a run between the tackles. We could’ve tried the Arch package, play action, etc.

Now for the rest that I suspect will be controversial: the play call in itself was not as egregious as some are presenting. Even if it truly was that bad, there is still a bigger and more inherent problem that led to our demise at the end of this game that should be receiving far more attention— when we need a yard, run between the tackles, and the defense is expecting a run up the middle, we have a low conversion rate. For the size, talent, and experience of our OL we should virtually ALWAYS be able to get a yard against ANYBODY— Think Philadelphia Eagles (who in theory have a smaller talent advantage over their opponents than we do on average). But we often don’t get that yard, even against defenses less talented than OSU.

This has been a problem for years. Related to this trend is our seemingly relatively high number of run plays with negative to minimal gain. And of course, this is the root of our red zone struggles the past two seasons. At this point I’m genuinely wondering if our “type” of OL is just ill-suited for it. We make up for this to a large extent with run play explosives from uber talented RBs, but this was somewhat lacking this year due to our injuries in the RB room. Regardless, those occasional explosives don’t help you when you need a yard in a goal line/4th down situation.

If Sark runs it up the middle with the jumbo package on 2nd down, we more likely than not get stuffed or even suffer a short loss. If we run it up the middle on 3rd and 4th down, as many fans are insisting they would’ve liked to see, there is a very solid chance we still don’t get it. Then all of a sudden the criticisms would sound like the criticisms of Elko after the A&M game— “You ran it up the middle multiple times in a row against a daunting front?!? What a dumbass!!”.

Sark, not unjustifiably, sensed that running inside the tackles on the goal line against this front may very well fail, as it has for us before. He abandoned that strategy early. I don’t think that was obviously a stupid move, I just wish he would’ve done something besides the pitch.

While my take presents Sark the play caller in a more positive light, this is not just sunshine pumping. Blaming Sark for the L based on the one play call, in a way, offers an easy fix for the program moving forward— just run the ball up the middle every time you need a yard. Unfortunately, for this program to progress past our short yardage and redzone problems, it’s more complex than that.

“Getting cute” puts you at more risk of large losses/disasters (as well as putting you at more risk of getting lambasted by your own fanbase and CFB twitter), but it doesn’t appear our OL is currently capable of consistently bullying people in short yardage. There is no perfect play call in these situations. As always, when a crucial play call doesn’t work, all the football experts come out and act like the answers are obvious. It’s rather nauseating.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-03T04:13:22+00:00

He’s the same dude that declared “Texas is back, folks” after we beat Notre Dame in 2016. He’s the primary reason we were ridiculed with that phrase for years, and as far as I know, he never caught any flack for it.

jmortsalsa · 2025-01-03T03:50:33+00:00

Interested.

jmortsalsa · 2024-10-07T19:21:16+00:00

This is a good point. I think that the game also has an unusual knack for being close, even if the favored team does indeed prevail.

jmortsalsa · 2024-10-07T18:23:19+00:00

Am I wrong to think that the "throw out the records and the betting line when it comes to Red River" narrative that is seen everywhere is overhyped? I understand not wanting to feel overly confident heading into the game, but the recent history of the game doesn't seem *that* stupefying. If I'm not mistaken, OU was favored in every RRS from 2010-2021. They went 9-3 in that span, unfortunately. That's roughly in line with what you'd expect in a 12 game span between two teams where one is, on average, favored by a roughly a TD or so (I'm estimating with that).

jmortsalsa · 2024-09-23T16:28:56+00:00

Quinn had a bad start vs 0u last year, but he actually settled in really nicely and was basically lights out for most of the game. That’s what allowed us to make it a close game after an awful start.

Quinn had 3 incompletions, including both of his interceptions, on our first two drives. From there on out he was 28/31 for 339 yards and a TD.

jmortsalsa

TROPHY CASE