I've stewed on it.
My postgame thoughts, aside from wishing harm upon the Big XII video reviewers and the ACC refs on the field for (1) failing to protect our player and (2) costing us points:
1. If our defense plays to even one less degree of terrible football, we win by two scores. So, if we played like "Burning Couch in West Virginia" rather than "Runaway Train With Cars Full of Dumpsters on Fire," we win by 10.
2. If Kizer plays the whole game, from the start, we win by one score, maybe two. The guy is unbelievable, and an early-game rhythm might have resulted in a bit more success on a couple of our early drives that stalled.
(^Put both of the above together, and we win by three scores, and I'm sticking to it.)
3. BK learned, the hard way, that he can't trust the defense or BVG. He put his faith in them by going conservative on 3rd and 12, and I can even kind of understand why he did it, as the defense had played marginally better in the second half. But I'd be shocked if we don't see BK upping the ante in terms of attempting fourth down conversions, and generally calling for a more aggressive game late in first halves and at the end of games.
4. We're gonna be in All Of The Shootouts. I hope I'm wrong. But our corners and safeties knew Texas wanted to go deep consistently, and still couldn't do anything about it. That type of play is going to allow the better teams on the schedule to easily adjust their gameplan for us each week to maximize the stress they put on our defense vertically, even if they don't normally attack in such a way. I hope Studstill and [Any Other Safety] grow up quickly.
5. Thank god we've got a QB that is going to make things easier on the young receivers, because those guys need to grow up fast, too. Asking Folston and Adams to continue breaking off big, unbelievable runs isn't a sustainable strategy against a crowded box. It looks like ESB and CJ will be fine as the classic "Possession" and "Slot" guys, and if Torii gets healthy we are in a great position at the top of the depth chart overall. But Stepherson, Boykin, and perhaps one other guy need to figure out how to be more than just niche guys... they need to take a big step in practices, and prevent their presences on the field from signalling a one-dimensional attack.
6. Despite giving up 50 points, and despite the fact that Swoopes was made to look like the Incredible Hulk on the same simple power plays over and over, I have hope for the front 7 simply because of two guys. The DL looked awful at times, and wasn't offering nearly enough help to the LB's... But Nyles showed some of the big-time flashes at MLB that we've been waiting for since Manti left, and Onwualu played out of his mind. It's nice to see a guy in the middle that can legitimately shoot through a gap and pop somebody in the backfield, and I think that Onwualu should retain that #1 jersey and keep wrecking shit off the edge.
