SB Nation - Ryan Reynolds

Franks Coming Back Others Possibly Leaning Towards Staying

ccmachine — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:29:51 -0000

Oklahoma's defense could be pretty salty again next year as key members of what has possibly been the best defense of the Stoops era are deciding to return for another season. Adrian Taylor announced he'd be returning next season and now Dominique Franks is the next to say he'll be returning to Norman to play ball in 2010.

"I'm not worried about it at all," Franks said. "I'm coming back."

"I'm done with it. I'm just focusing on this last game. That's all I'm worried about," Franks said. "I'm not worried about talking to anybody or being at that next level."

Keenan Clayton, Auston English, Brian Jackson and Ryan Reynolds are all gone due to graduation but only Clayton and Jackson were every down every game players. Reynolds and English missed time because of injury but in their place Austin Box and Frank Alexander performed very well. Both were key contributors to shutting out Oklahoma State on the final weekend of the season and both will be around next season as well.

In addition to Taylor and Franks linebacker Travis Lewis, defensive end Jeremy Beal and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy are among the top underclassmen who could be throwing their names in next spring's NFL draft. It's widely speculated that McCoy is gone and while there's been absolutely not official word from him I'd be surprised to see him in crimson and cream in 2010. Instead we'll be looking at Jamarkus McFarland who while not yet at the level of McCoy did show flashes of greatness this year as a true freshman.

It's been rumored that Jeremy Beal is leaning towards staying as well even though he's not talking. The only thing that he's said is that he's focused on Stanford and will address that once the bowl game is over. That doesn't give me a lot of confidence to be honest but until he gives us something solid to go with all we have is speculation.

"I'm thinking about Stanford and getting better every day at practice," said Beal, who was chosen to the All-Big 12 first team. "I'm not thinking about the NFL."

"We've still got one more game and I'll think about that after the Stanford game," he added.

Travis Lewis hasn't stated whether he's staying or going either but he's at least given us the criteria for his departure. Lewis wants to be a first round draft pick and says he won't leave Oklahoma early unless that is guaranteed.

"It'd have to be pretty high. I have high standards for myself and everybody wants to go in the first round to take care of your family for the rest of your life," Lewis said. "Whether it's this year, next year or the year after. I've got two more years to play. I think eventually I'll be there."

"It's all about me and patience-how patient I am staying here and bettering myself to get to that No. 1, that first round."

There will be plenty of new faces on next year's defense but the key to success is blending the new guys with veteran leadership. Marcus Trice is going to make a push at replacing Brian Jackson, Ronnell Lewis, Tom Wort and Austin Box are going to battle for the middle linebacker position and depending what others do, we may see more. The thing is, the more we see guys like Taylor, Franks, Lewis and Beal the more experience and leadership we'll see on the field to go along with young talent. In a nutshell the learning curve will be smaller and that's exactly what we're looking for.

Breaking Down Bedlam

ccmachine — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:16:33 -0000

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There are so many things that could go right or wrong for Oklahoma in today's Bedlam football game that I really have no idea what to expect. On one hand you consider how well the Sooners play at home and you think that they have an outstanding chance to win. Then you consider how bad they've played in their five losses and add the fact that the competition at home hasn't been that great and suddenly there's a huge knot in your stomach because you realize the realistic possibility that the nation's longest home winning steak very well could come to an end.

The roles are already reversed coming into the game. O-State is the ranked team with a shot at going to a BCS Bowl. Regardless of what the final score is the Cowboys are going to finish ahead of the Sooners in the Big 12 standings and will get a better bowl invitation. The only thing left to happen is for OSU to actually win the game and they come in as a legitimate favorite and for OU to avoid losing their sixth game of the season they must win one of the game match-ups that they're not supposed to.

Quarterbacks

Landry Jones is completing 58% of his passes this year and has 23 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. At times he's look exceptional and then at other moments he's look completely out of his element. The knocks against him are that he's not stable in the pocket and doesn't read through his progressions.

Zac Robinson has completed 63% of his passes with a touchdown to interception ration of 15 to 7. Robinson is a dual-threat quarterback who has rushed for 302 yards this year but has also been known for turning the ball over on a big hit when he runs.

Robinson's experience and leadership give him a clear advantage over Jones but there's the chance that he may not play due to injury or that he'll be playing at less than 100%.

Advantage: OSU

Running Backs

Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray are averaging 4.3 and 4.4 yards respectfully with 12 touchdowns between them but they are a far cry from the dynamic duo that we saw them become last season. After rushing for over 1,000 each last season the two have a combined 1,251 yards this year. The problem has been getting them in space to make plays and clearing holes for them to run in between the tackles. That's on the line and not necessarily the running backs.

Keith Toston is the Big 12's second leading rusher with 1,130 yards. He's averaging 5.5 yards per carry and has crossed the goal line rushing the football 11 times. He's a powerful runner with good speed and is one of only two players (KSU's Daniel Thomas) to average over 100 yards rushing per game.

Toston has clearly had the better season of these three backs and despite Murray having the added dimension of being Oklahoma's second leading receiver the Sooners don't have a rushing threat like Toston has been this season.

Advantage: OSU

Receivers/Tight Ends

Ryan Broyles is one of the most electrifying receivers in the country. He's averaging 12.9 yards per reception and has 861 yards with 12 touchdowns. He's on target to break 1,000 receiving yards this season and it would go a long way for the Sooners if he surpassed that mark today. Behind Broyles is a massive drop off as Brandon Caleb has almost 40 fewer receptions and only 2 touchdowns. Dejuan Miller is coming on and is has pretty much inserted himself as Oklahoma's #2 receiver.

O-State was dealt a huge blow when the NCAA took Dez Bryant away from them. Since then Hubert Anyiam has become the Pokes' top receiver. He's caught 39 passes for 482 yards and 3 touchdowns.

After Anyiam the Cowboys don't have another receiver playing in this game with more than 15 receptions. Conversely the Sooners have four receivers with more than 20 receptions. What's a tight end?

Advantage: OU

Offensive Line

I don't have the words to describe how disappointing Oklahoma's offensive line has been this season. Now this unit has become decimated with injuries and literally a walking triage unit. The latest victim is Trent Williams who may have to sit out today's Bedlam game due to a head injury. Oklahoma has given up 12 sacks this season.

Oklahoma State has only given up 7 sacks this year and is much stronger in both run and pass blocking than the Sooners are. The have a future NFL All-Pro in Russell Okung as their anchor.

Advantage: OSU

Defensive Line

Oklahoma's defensive line against OSU's offensive line is the match-up that could determine the game. Jeremy Beal is third in the conference in sacks with 11 and third in tackles for loss with 16. Gerald McCoy is fifth in the Big 12 in tackles for loss with 14.5.

Ugo Chinasa has 4 sacks for the Pokes and 6.5 tackles for loss. However, you have to go all the way down to 11^th O-States leader board for tackles to find Chinasa, a defensive lineman, listed.

Advantage: OU

Linebackers

Travis Lewis is third in the Big 12 in total tackles with 99 and Keenan Clayton is 39^th with 58. Oklahoma will be without Ryan Reynolds who is a field general for the Sooners defense and that may hurt the Sooners more than missing his 67 tackles. In his place Austin Box will step in and try to get a head start on taking over the middle linebacker position full time next season.

Donald Booker leads the Cowboys in sacks with 5 and tackles for loss with 7. He and Patrick Lavine lead the team in tackles with 80 and 67 tackles respectively. Lavine also leads the team in interceptions with 5.

Both team's linebacker units attack down hill and are solid run stuffers. O-State is second in the conference against the rush (82.6 yards per game) and the Sooners are third (91 yards per game)

Advantage: Even

Secondary

Oklahoma is second in the conference against the pass by holding opponents to just 197.5 yards per game. The OU secondary has a combined 11 interceptions led by Brian Jackson's 4. Jackson and Dominique Franks are one of the best corner duos in the conference and safety Quinton Carter is a hard hitter who's second on the team in tackles with 76.

Perrish Cox is not only the best athlete in Oklahoma State's secondary he's most likely the best athlete on the team. He has 32 tackles and 4 interceptions but as a whole the Cowboys are 9^th in the conference in pass defense.

Advantage: OU

Special Teams

Oklahoma State is last in the Big 12 in kickoff return average (18.6 yards per return) and while the Sooners aren't sitting pretty at #10 (21.2 yards per return) at least they're not last. Punt returns are a different issue for the Sooners where their 14.3 yards per return average are tops in the Big 12. OSU isn't too far behind at 13.9 yards per return which places them 3^rd in the Big 12.

In punting average the Sooners have a 39.6 (Best in the Big 12) to 37.5 advantage. Oklahoma's place kickers have missed seven field goal attempts this season while the Cowboys have missed five.

If this game becomes a field goal kicking contest then I'm not sure that I like Oklahoma's chances. However, in the battle for field position OU's special teams units are outperforming O-State's in just about every category.

Advantage: OU

Revisiting the Oklahoma Sooners

Husker Mike — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:00:39 -0000

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Fear the Stache! (AP Photo/Donna McWilliam)

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We're resurfacing the preseason preview of the Oklahoma Sooners. The biggest change is that both Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham are out for the season with injuries. Think that had an impact on the Sooners? Well, they've lost three games this season ... by a total of five frickin' points. So even with Landry Jones ("Fear the Stache!") now at the helm, the Sooners are still a potent bunch. Invincible, obviously not.

The offensive line has struggled, leading to reduced production from DeMarco Murray and the shoulder injury to Bradford. The inexperience at receiver is starting to settle out, but Kansas State scoring 30 last week probably raises some eyebrows.

So what did we say back in the heat of summertime about the Sooners? While the Sooners aren't as potent as last season, I think the poll results probably still would hold.

Under Bob Stoops, Oklahoma has established themselves as the dominant team in the Big XII conference in this decade, with six conference championships in the last nine years. Yes, Texas got a national championship this decade as well, and the Sooners haven't done so well in bowl games, losing the last five BCS bowl games.

Losing those games hurts, no doubt...but any Sooner fan would take the 2000's over the 1990's, when the Sooners stumbled and bumbled and nearly became irrelevent.

Last season seemed like another Stoops-era team. Won the Big XII championship game, then lost to Florida 24-14 in the BCS Championship Game. From that squad, 14 starters return, ensuring that once again, the Sooners will be challenging for Big XII superiority once again.

Offensively, it all starts with quarterback Sam Bradford, who took home the Heisman Trophy as a sophomore last season. Completed nearly 68% of his passes for 50 (yes, FIFTY) touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He set an NCAA record for pass efficiency at 180.8. In summary: he's good. Especially at home ... or at least within the state of Oklahoma, where he's undefeated in his college career.

Junior DeMarco Murray and senior Chris Brown represent the best running back tandem in the Big XII conference. Murray was all-Big XII last season...yet Brown outgained him in yards: 1220 for Brown versus 1002 yards for Murray. (Murray's season ended due to a knee injury suffered on the opening kickoff of the Big XII Championship game, allowing Brown to pass Murray up.)

Graduation hit the rest of the Sooners offense hard; gone are wide receivers Juaquin Iglesias and Manuel Johnson. Sophomore Ryan Broyles enters 2009 as the leading candidate to start; he set an OU record for freshman receiving yards. Broyles lit up Cincinnati for 141 yards and finished the season as the Sooners #3 receiver. Senior all-Big XII tight end Jermaine Gresham will be Bradford's favorite target. The 6'6" 261 freak is simply too fast for linebackers to cover and too big for the secondary to bring down. Defensive coordinators will lose a lot of hair trying to figure out what to do with Gresham.

Up front, the Sooners lose four of five offensive linemen, only returning senior all-Big XII left tackle Trent Williams. Three of the departing starters (Phil Loadholt, Duke Robinson, and Jon Cooper) were all-Big XII in 2008. The anticipated replacements were all highly regarded recruits, but are generally light on experience with the exception of senior left guard Brian Simmons, who played in every game and started twice in 2008. We'll find out in 2009 just how much of Bradford's numbers in 2008 can be attributed to the fortress protecting him up front.

On defense, the Sooners are absolutely loaded. On the defensive line, junior all-Big XII defensive end Jeremy Beal, junior all-American defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, and senior all-Big XII (in 2007) defensive end Auston English all return. English sprained his knee against the Huskers last season, causing him to miss the next three games and relegating him to merely honorable mention all-conference in 2008. Junior defensive tackle Adrian Taylor started all 14 games last season to round out the defensive line.

Depth at linebacker is much the same story. Last year's Big XII Defensive freshman of the year and all-Big XII in 2008, sophomore Travis Lewis returns, as does senior Keenan Clayton, who was honorable mention all-Big XII last season. The heart of the defense, senior middle linebacker Ryan Reynolds returns after suffering a torn ACL in the Texas game. The Sooner defense never seemed to recover from the loss of Reynolds last season.

In the secondary, both senior cornerbacks Brian Jackson and Dominque Franks return. Franks, a second-team all-Big XII selection last season, jumped on the wide receiver screen pass from Joe Ganz to Nate Swift and easily scored on the pick-six before anybody in Husker gear realized what had happened. The Sooners will need to break in new safeties to replace all-Big XII Nic Harris and Lendy Holmes. Most teams would kill to only have those question marks going into the season.

Last year's Sooner defense forced three turnovers on Nebraska's first five offensive plays to jump to a 28-0 lead barely six minutes into the game. With almost all of that defense returning in 2009, it's going to make it even more difficult to pull off an upset in Lincoln. While Nebraska's defense looks to be able to match up better with the Sooner offense this season, the Husker offense is going to need to progress rapidly to get Nebraska into the game against this group of Sooners. Pulling off that upset is going to be quite the challenge.

Poll

What's your prediction when the Husker/Sooner Rivalry resumes in November?

Remember how Arizona State paid NU back in 1996? Nebraska shocks the world with a huge win.

24 votes

Nebraska pulls out a close win in another classic

61 votes

22%

Sooner Magic bites the Huskers again, and the Sooners break Husker hearts in a squeaker.

146 votes

64%

It'll take longer than 6 minutes this year, but it's still another Sooner blowout.

426 votes

657 votes | Poll has closed

Snap Shots: The Monroe Series

GhostofBigRoy — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:11:11 -0000

More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

Get this man the ball. Now. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

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The Big Picture

Pretty much everyone in Longhorn Nation lambasted the coaching staff for the running performance put on against Colorado. It was terrible. During the week leading up to the Oklahoma game, Mack Brown apparently had to bite his tongue to keep from informing the big mean media that he and Greg Davis did indeed have some new wrinkles saved for the Sooners.

Over at BC, LonghornScott correctly pointed out the flaws of having one package that isn't working and trying to fix it with another separate, completely different package -- it's a somewhat simplified summary of the post, but enough for the purposes here. It's a valid point, and certainly one that Davis would be well served to understand better, but there is something to be said for series-based football. For example, the three plays Dan Lee ran at Arkansas in the Wildcat formation qualify as a series of plays that generally look similar, but can catch the defense overpursuing in anticipation of one play, in this case the stealer, then take advantage of that overpursuit by running the play in the series that punishes the defense for that decision -- the power. Once the defense adjusts to that play and takes it away, then the third play comes in, in this case the counter. In other words, series-based football.

Instead of using that series-based approach with the WildHorn (it was not used against Missouri), which probably would have kept it from dying, Davis decided to use it for another set of complementary plays -- what I've chosen to call the Monroe Series. After Monroe played well enough to earn the inaugural, but yet-unnamed Flavor of the Week award for the Louisiana-Monroe game, one of the first things I wanted to see with him was the jet sweep, putting him in motion across the formation to take the hand off -- it doesn't exactly take a football genius to figure out that it's better to get him the ball at speed rather than standing still, even if he does have elite acceleration. Davis finally answered that call with the Monroe Series.

The Context

Before Davis completely abandoned the run in the first half of the Oklahoma game, he sought to gain some momentum for the Longhorns by breaking out several running plays Texas had not shown to that point in the season. For instance, the first play from scrimmage was a draw play to Fozzy Whittaker that picked up 16 yards. On the second series, after knocking out Sam Bradford and forcing a three and out by the Sooners, Davis unveiled another new play, but this one was different -- it had other complementary plays along with it, a series if you will.

Stealer

The play the Longhorns run is not exactly like the stealer run by Dan Lee because the original stealer had a pulling guard from the backside attempting to lay a block in front of the runner. In some ways, the design the Longhorns use is more effective, because judging from the plays included in the instructional video, it was extremely difficult for that pulling guard to ever get in front of the running back to actually throw a block -- think about, a guard is trying to catch up with a running back who already has a head start.

Instead, the Longhorns use Fozzy Whittaker, or Tre' Newton when the Longhorns ran the play with Garrett Gilbert at quarterback late in the MIssouri game, as the lead blocker on the play. The blocking scheme is the same as the speed option play -- the offensive line blocks down the line of scrimmage in the direction of the play, while the running back heads into the playside flat to block the first player he comes across, in this case the nickel back lined up over Malcolm Williams. Notice that both of the OU linebackers line up well inside the tackle box.

Kyle Hix has a tough task in this play -- Jeremy Beal lines up well outside the left shoulder of Hix, forcing him to cut Beal. Since Beal is a badass, he doesn't allow that to happen, forcing Monroe to take a wider angle to get around him. Fortunately, since Monroe is ridiculously fast, Beal never really has a chance to tackle him, but he does allow his teammates an extra step or two in pursuit of the Longhorn ballcarrier, far from insignificant with Monroe. If Hix can get a good block on Beal, Monroe turns the corner much more quickly and has a ton of open field in front of him. Notice also that Whittaker is about to take an the OU nickel back.

Whittaker also cuts the OU defender, with a slightly higher level of success, while Monroe, now seven yards behind the line of scrimmage, avoids Beal.

Now by Beal, Monroe can finally turn upfield with the football, while the nickel back has to regain his balance after hurdling Fozzy. Notice the other highlighted OU defender taking a terrible angle on Monroe. In fact, one of the foremost reasons for putting Monroe on the field is on obvious one -- his elite speed changes the geometry of the game. In other words, he can blow angles up.

Since Beal forced Monroe to take such a wide angle approaching the line of scrimmage, the pursuit catches up with him only a yard or two downfield. Had the timing of the play been more optimal, the excellent downfield blocking by Williams and Shipley might have led to a big play. Instead, they allow Monroe to gain a little bit of extra yardage.

After his speed, the most endearing aspect of Monroe is how hard he fights for extra yardage at his size. Instead of meekly going out of bounds after picking up only two or three yards, Monroe manages to pick up six yards on the play -- an excellent gain on first down that easily could have resulted in more yardage.

The Verdict

The good news is that this play provides some evidence that Davis is not a complete idiot. Putting Monroe in motion is an obvious move, but it's also a smart one and it pays dividends on the first play, even though Kyle Hix fails to execute his block. Keep running it, GD, it's hard to stop!

Running Back Counter

This is where Davis doesn't quite understand series-based football, even though it's pretty simple -- on the next play, instead of running stealer until the Oklahoma defense adjusts and takes the play away, difficult because of Monroe's pure speed, Davis dials up the counter to stealer, the running back counter:

The Longhorns stay with the same personnel in the same formation and the play starts out looking like stealer, with Monroe coming in motion across the formation. Notice that Oklahoma stands up the defense end on the opposite side of the field from Monroe to make it even more difficult for the left tackle, Adam Ulatoski, the cut the defensive end, Auston English. Perhaps Davis doesn't trust Ulatoski with that assignment running the stealer, so both Charlie Tanner and Chris Hall pull on this play. Notice that EBS has the assignment of blocking Jeremy Beal this time.

Here's another example of why Davis fails by calling the running back counter here. Perhaps the linebackers read their keys well -- the movement of the offensive lineman -- but the point here is that they don't flow to the play or take any bad steps in the direction of Monroe coming in motion, indicating that stealer should work again. Notice also that Kyle Hix is matched up with Gerald McCoy on the play -- so far so good, but there's a problem developing, as Hix allows McCoy to get into his body.

Once again, Hix allows penetration into the backfield, as McCoy quickly sheds the Longhorn offensive lineman, and, once again, the running back must take a wider angle, allowing more time for the pursuit and forcing the the blockers to hold their blocks for a difficult extra split second. Notice that EBS hasn't allowed Beal to get into his body and is holding the block well, except for the fact that he hasn't managed to seal him inside, a difficult task considering the opponent.

Whittaker avoids McCoy and finally has a chance to start heading upfield and into the boundary on the short side of the field. Notice that Beal is about to shed EBS, who can't hold his block for the extra split second needed as a result of Hix allowing such quick penetration by McCoy. However, the play still has a chance for success if Hall and Huey can make their blocks in space. Notice that Hall could have stopped to chip Beal, but instead heads for the pursuing defensive back. Or does he?

Beal has now completely disengaged from EBS, creating a fair amount of separation. Huey is still locked in on his target, while Hall inexplicably overruns the play, failing to put himself in a position to block either Beal or the defensive back.

In the realm of positives, Huey gets a good cut block on the defensive back. Back in the realm of Texas offensive line realities, Hall has now completely run himself out of the play without having even gotten in anyone's way. To be fair, it's difficult for a lot of offensive lineman to block in space, but this is just not good enough. Beal is now locked in on Fozzy.

Does the Mythical Fozzy Creature like contact or will he meekly head out of bounds, short of the first down?

Instead of laying out, which puts him in little danger because the defenders aren't close enough to pick a big hit on him anyway, Whittaker opts to go meekly out of bounds short of the first down.

The Verdict

But it's 3rd and 1, any good offense should be able to pick that up, right? Wrong, not when Greg Davis infamously calls for an empty set and has every receiver run a route of less than five yards, culminating in McCoy throwing an incomplete pass to Shipley after Brian Jackson grabbed his jersey. Fail. Thanks Fozzy.

As mentioned earlier, Davis clearly doesn't quite get series-based football, as he should have run stealer until Oklahoma stopped it -- that's how series-based football works. Sometimes an offensive coordinator has to sacrifice one play in order to hit a big play on the next. However, even though it wasn't the optimal time to call for the running back counter, it still would have picked up a first down if Hall could have thrown a block on someone, if Hix could have held his block on McCoy for a split second more, of if Fozzy had simply laid out for the first down. Monroe would have.

Quarterback Counter

As much as Davis failed in going to the first counter too soon, he makes an excellent play call in the second quarter after completely abandoning the run for much of the first half. It's the third play in the series, the quarterback counter:

It's the same personnel, the same formation as the previous two plays (with the exception of Kirkendoll in at wide receiver instead of Malcolm Williams), with Monroe coming in motion across the formation to the wide side of the field. It also has an extra misdirection built in -- McCoy will fake the running back counter to Whittaker before taking the ball himself behind the two pulling linemen, the left tackle Ulatoski and the left guard Tanner. Notice that OU now has greater separation between their linebackers, with one farther off the line of scrimmage on the short side and the other now almost outside the tackle box to deal with Monroe's speed to the outside.

The OU defenders get a little bit undsiciplined on this play -- both the nickel back and Ryan Reynolds key on Monroe, attempting to stop stealer. On the other side of the field, Travis Lewis isn't quite as undisciplined, as he only takes a little hop forward to deal with Whittaker, while the cornerback on that side of the field and English both also key on Whittaker. Instead of watching their keys -- the movement of the offensive linemen, they get caught up in both fakes.

EBS has the toughest job on this play. Though Chris Hall tries to cut Gerald McCoy, it's a long way for the center to go to block such a good defensive tackle -- he has little chance. After taking a step or two to his left, Smith must now block the dangerous McCoy for the play to succeed. Smith gets a good seal on McCoy and even helps out Michael Huey behind him by getting in the way of the other defensive tackle attempting to get into the backfield -- Huey has allowed the defender to get across his body. The play has set up extremely well to this point, as the nickel back takes himself out of the play by following Monroe, while Tanner and James Kirkendoll are both set up to make their blocks and Ulatoski heads into the open field with no one currently in the picture to block -- that's a good thing.

Ulatoski makes a good decision to help Tanner the linebacker, Reynolds, while Hix gets an excellent seal on English inside, allowing a big running lane for McCoy to head through.

Ulatoski's footwork could have been a bit better to seal Reynolds and keep the running lane open longer, but he still does a good enough job to allow McCoy to eventually pick up 12 yards on first down.

The Verdict

Had Davis called either stealer or the running back counter, OU probably had them well defended with several offensive possessions to talk about adjustments to the first two plays. Instead, Davs dailed up the counter to the first two plays and picked up 12 yards on first down, giving the Longhorns an excellent start to a drive on which they would eventually kick a field goal, an important three points in a game decided by that margin. It's also important to note that the Longhorn offensive line executed this play to near perfection, much better than some individually poor efforts that limited the first two plays. Yay, execution!

Stealer, Redux

Of course, these plays don't mean much if Davis isn't willing to call them again or if defenses make adjustments to take them away. Yet, that's the beauty of series-based football -- the defense should always be wrong. Here's another look at stealer, this time run with different personnel against Missouri:

It's the same play run against Oklahoma, except with Gilbert as the quarterback, Newton at running back, and Howard at tight end, with Williams and Kirkendoll as the blockers. However, the most important player here, Monroe, stays the same. Notice that the only real adjustment Missouri makes versus what Oklahoma did is to walk up a safety behind the outside linebacker covering slot, while keeping two linebackers well inside the tackle box and at the same depth, unlike OU defended the quarterback counter.

A Missouri defender slices through a gap against the second-team Longhorn offensive line, but, like the first stealer play, Monroe just takes a wider angle while using his speed to beat keep his opponent from having a chance to tackle him. Notice the unblocked Mike linebacker running down the line of scrimmage in pursuit. The question then, is that a good enough angle?

Newton throws a nice block on the outside linebacker, while the MIke backer heads right towards that pile -- that probably won't be good enough, son. Monroe sees the running lane to the outside.

The Mike backer did indeed take a poor angle on the play and has no chance at a tackle. Notice that both Kirkendoll and Williams are throwing good blocks downfield, allowing Monroe to still have a nice running lane to pick up more yardage after turning the corner.

Both defenders eventually get off the blocks of Kirkendoll and Williams, who both do a good job of not getting a holding call on the play, and have a chance to tackle Monroe, who can go down with a nice gain or do what he normally does -- keep fighting for as much yardage as possible.

Monroe does not go down easily, picking up another five yards in the process and turning a seven-yard gain into a nice 12-yard gain.

The Verdict

The beauty of the stealer play is that the offensive line doesn't really even have to block that well for it to work -- the important blocks are by the running back and the receivers outside. An offensive lineman allowed serious penetration on the play, but Monroe's speed kept that defender from being able to make the play. This play also illustrates, once again, just how often Monroe can blow up the angle of a defender and how well he does at his size making himself difficult to bring down -- there's some power in that small frame. The bottom line -- this play seems to be good for at least five yards a carry.

The Takeaway

The three main Wildcat plays made me a believer in series-based football and the early succes of this group of three plays -- the Monroe Series -- confirms that belief. Even though this package doesn't represent a serious leap forward for Davis in being able to put together a coherent offense that includes a more systemic approach, that really doesn't matter here.

What matters is that the Monroe series can significantly help the running game and gives the ball to one of the two most explosive offensive players on the team -- that's good, especially since Mack Brown talks all the time about how difficult it is to get carries for more than about two running backs. Even though it appears that those two backs are Fozzy Whittaker and Cody Johnson, this package still allows Monroe an opportunity to touch the ball. Davis should run these plays up to about 10 times per game -- once again, the beauty of series-based football is that as long as the offensive coordinator can correctly see how the defense is defending each play, the defense should always be wrong.

To make sure the defense is always wrong, Davis could make one important adjustment to increase the effectiveness of the plays. Instead of calling the play before the defense lines up, Texas could look back to the sideline after the defense shows their coverage to get the play. If a team overloads the wide side of the field or separates their linebackers in the box significantly, as Oklahoma did on the quarterback counter, Davis can get the offense into the proper play. A similar solution is to allow McCoy the ability to call the play at the line of scrimmage and it's possible that Davis already does give him that freedom, though it's impossible to tell.

It's worth noting that defenses continue to play this formation with two safeties deep, concerned about the pass. If defenses do begin adjusting, the Longhorns need to have two or three passing plays out of the formation, either keeping Monroe as the split end in the formation or having him run a route after coming in motion -- a wheel route would work well, a play the Longhorns have only tried to hit with Monroe once this season, against Oklahoma. Basically, the idea is to add another constraint play by passing the ball to keep that extra eight defender out of the box or close to the line of scrimmage on the wide side of the field. Texas has now had two full weeks to put in those passing plays, so they have had plenty of time for installation if they need those plays this weekend against Oklahoma State.

The other adjustment is less likely, but could allow the Longhorns more flexibility in the formation. By using Marquise Goodwin as the motion man in the formation, Texas could run all the same passing plays they normally do with Goodwin at split end, a position he played for several snaps against Missouri, while putting Monroe at running back, a player who can more quickly take the edge on the running back counter than Whittaker, critical since there is so little space on the short side of the field. The only downside is that Monroe would be responsible for blitz pick up on the throwing play and would also have to block on stealer. However, given his ability to pick up extra yardage, it's not inconceivable that he could cut a defender about as well as Whittaker and picking up the blitz isn't a problem until the Longhorns actually decide to throw out of the formation. Obviously, putting Goodwin and Monroe on the field at the same time for the Monroe Series is a long shot, but it does get the two fastest players on the team on the field in a formation other than the empty set.

The State of Oklahoma: Obligatory Rundown of the Roster

TheElusiveShadow — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:47:00 -0000

I narrowed the focus a bit on my previous two posts to look at OU's problems at right tackle and the over-aggressiveness of their linebackers and safeties. It seems that now, before evening comes upon us and we eagerly await the morning, is a good time to broadly address the entire team and discuss what players we can expect to see. If you're curious, here are the previews of the Sooners written earlier in the season or in the preseason:

Linebacker and Safeties

QB, RB, WR, TE

Defensive Line

Offensive Line

As noted in the title, I'll try to keep this brief, but heck, I might just ramble along.

Offense

Quarterback: Bradford looked pretty good against Baylor, although not perfect. He was off on some throws, particularly going high, and he did not look comfortable moving around as PB noted in his podcast. Other than that, I thought his arm motion looked the same and he was able to put good velocity on his throws. Ultimately, the problems OU's offense had against Baylor were not his fault. He better be ready to actually do some moving, though; he does not want to be a statue with Kindle and Acho coming after him.

Runningback: Murray and Brown have done relatively well thus far despite some of the struggles of their offensive line. Brown doesn't have breakaway speed but he is a bit more consistent. Murray is dangerous in the open field and is stronger than people get him credit for (probably because he gets hurt a lot), but he doesn't exactly muscle away from tackles. These guys will likely be the key for the Sooner offense; if they can't run, OU is in deep trouble.

Wide Receiver: The big news is that Ryan Broyles is rumored to be returning tomorrow. It is difficult to tell how much this would help. It is unlikely he will be 100%, and one receiver who is not on the talent level of the likes of A.J. Green and Dez Bryant is not going to transform an entire WR corps. Still, he has been by far their best receiver and it is probably a welcome relief to Bradford. Keep an eye on Dejuan Miller, a big, athletic target who has the physical gifts to be dangerous. Other than that, the Sooners have to rely on mediocre production from Caleb, Kinney, and Tennell.

TE: Eldridge is a decent blocker but slow. Hanna is not scary at all.

Offensive line: As discussed in my post about them, Jarvis Jones and his backup Cory Brandon have stunk it up so far. Left guard Brian Simmons is injured, and while he is not a great player, he's been one of the better ones and he is significantly better than his replacement Stephen Good. Good is, well, not good, despite having the requisite physical tools, and I like our DT's against him. At center is Brian Habern, who is a mediocre blocker himself and definitely should not be able to handle our tackles by himself.

Right guard features Tarvarris Jeffries, who began starting against Miami, and he wasn't good against them or Baylor. I specifically remember him whiffing on a block on a rusher who forced a bad throw from Landry Jones, who had a wide open receiver for a big gain. Jarvis Jones had this job against BYU before going to RT, and he was replaced by Tyler Evans for a bit, who is now the backup. No, he's not good either. Finally, there's the overrated Trent Williams, who is functional but not near the All-American greatness he was hyped to be. Our DE's can take him on the edge.

Defensive Line: Very good, but not as good as it was hyped to be and not as deep as it was supposed to be. Beal has been their best player on their entire defense and has 6 sacks. English has been decent but not particularly disruptive by himself. McCoy and Taylor are a very good DT pair, with McCoy as the more dangerous one by far. Taylor is quick for his size and he can get penetration on single blockers, but he's not McCoy. Demarcus Granger has practically disappeared. And "J-Mike?" Who cares.

Linebackers: Discussed already. Ryan Reynolds should not cover anyone except maybe EBS, who shouldn't be going out on routes anyway.

Secondary: Corners are solid in Brian Jackson and Dominique Franks, though they lack depth here. Jackson does not have top end speed and Franks likes to gamble and can have mental breakdowns, such as when he gave up that long touchdown against Miami. The safeties are nothing special. Carter and Proctor can run in a straight line and hit, but that's about it. Both can bite on fakes due to their aggressiveness.

Special teams: Dominique Franks apparently thinks it's a good idea to return punts inside the five, and successes on such returns against Miami and Baylor might encourage him to do that again. While rugby punting largely makes that a moot point, hopefully he has a brainfart in the return game and gives us a nice gift. He is dangerous, though.

Punt coverage is good, kickoff coverage is so-so, and kickoff returning is not concerning. As far as the kickers, their placekicker is okay and their punter is a good actor. That's about it. We should definitely win the kicking game.

That's all, folks

Brief enough? Oklahoma is going to have to establish the run game, which is easier said than done because while our DEs are the ones getting the attention, I think our DTs give us an advantage as well. Lamarr Houston, anyone? On defense, Oklahoma will need a monster day from their line. Our O-line is not elite, and you can expect some plays for loss at the hands of Beal and McCoy. The issue here is depth; if we have a large TOP advantage like last year, it can get rough for the Sooner D in the 4th quarter.

The onus is on Brent Venables to be smart. If he sits back and dares us to run with umbrella coverage, we might have some problems if we can't run the ball. As PB and Big Roy note, if he decides to blitz, that's a bad idea in the long haul.

As far as Wilson, this might be a game where the no-huddle is a bad idea. He's probably going to have to be a bit more conservative than OU fans will like, but I don't expect too many draw plays on 3rd and long anymore with Bradford back.

Hook'em, and OU sucks. We got this.

Five Things to Watch Against Oklahoma

GhostofBigRoy — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:07:08 -0000

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It is Oklahoma that now has the fragile psyche going into this game? The dynamics of the Red River Rivalry have changed over the years -- during the long losing streak for Texas, it seemed that Bob Stoops was the superior coach and his players more confident, possessing more belief in their ability to dominate the game. Vince Young and the 2005 team helped start to swing the tide towards the Longhorns. Brian Robison helped a bit too by splattering Rhett Bomar. No longer did Texas walk onto the field in the Cotton Bowl and already looked whipped even before the coin toss.

Two more victories later for the Longhorns and many big-game losses later for the artist formerly known as "Big Game Bob" and now it appears that the Longhorns have the upper hand, with the Texas players now believing in themselves and the OU players more mentally fragile, nowhere more apparent than in the fourth quarter last year when the Longhorns imposed their will upon a tired and compliant Sooner team.

This season, the Sooners have been characterized by penalties and mental breakdowns, particularly in the secondary. If the Longhorns throw a haymaker to Stoopsy's weak chin, will Oklahoma fight back or roll over?

How do the Longhorns put pressure on the OU back seven? It's no secret at this point that Brent Venables doesn't think particularly well on his feet. As Scipio Tex mentioned in one of the podcasts this week, his default reaction to big situations is to blitz, a decision that will play into the hands of Colt McCoy and one that runs contrary to the current book on how to defend the Longhorns. The other factor is that, even after Ryan Reynolds went down last season, Venables continued to defend Jordan Shipley in the flex with a linebacker. OU doesn't exactly have much depth in the secondary, so that might preclude Oklahoma from using much nickel again on Saturday, playing into the hands of Greg Davis.

How do the Longhorns exploit the probable mismatches they can create? Since it will likely be difficult to run the ball, does Davis use more empty sets with burners like DJ Monroe and Marquise Goodwin? Dan Buckner is entrenched in the flex now, so moving Shipley there again doesn't make much sense, but does Shipley stay at split end, where he will surely face a safety over the top? Or does Davis move him around like he moved Quan Cosby around in the Fiesta Bow? With two safeties deep and one occupied by Shipley, the seam should open up for Buckner down the middle of the field and if it does, Texas should exploit it relentlessly.

As TES points out well, the OU back seven is also susceptible to play-action and misdirection, neither of which the Longhorns are particularly good at, but perhaps Davis has kept something up his sleeve so far this season. It doesn't seem like much of a stretch considering the vanilla offense Texas has been running at the start of the season.

Can the Longhorns score a non-offensive touchdown? The 2008 game turned on Jordan Shipley's kickoff return for a touchdown and this year's game could follow suit, as Texas has scored a non-offensive touchdown in every game but Wyoming and Earl Thomas intercepted Sam Bradford two times last year, accounting for 25% of Bradford's interceptions for the entire season.Thomas has four interceptions in the last three games and seems like he's finally put everything together after dropping several potential interceptions early in the season -- this is the Earl Thomas that Texas fans anticipated after numerous stories during the off-season about how he was consistently picking off Colt McCoy.

How will Oklahoma handle punts? The Sooners cover punts extremely well and do so by getting downfield quickly, a dangerous tactic if they decide not to block Goodwin, who blocked one punt against Colorado last week and almost blocked two more -- the Buffaloes did not decide to block him until the Longhorns put on the return that lead to Shipley's touchdown. If Oklahoma decides to commit resources to protecting the punter, it gives Shipley a much better shot to take one to the house.

Can the defensive line put pressure on Bradford? Last season, it was pressure in the face of Bradford that helped the Longhorns pull away and slow down the prolific Sooner offense. This season, the offensive line has been having major problems and now has to replace injured starter Brian Simmons. Can Sergio Kindle take advantage of Jarvis Jones at right tackle, just like the Miami speed rushers did? Furthermore, does Muschamp finally move Kindle around more in this game, as he promised to do before the season, or is that even necessary given how poorly the OU o-line has played at times? What about blitz packages, like bringing Aaron Williams from the nickel or Roddrick Muckelroy or Emmanuel Acho running the same delayed blitz that BYU used to knock Bradford out of the game? Expect more of the "exotics" Muschamp has been saving, although if the Longhorns get pressure rushing four, he won't need to use them.

Please, pretty please, Sergio, can you Bomar Bradford?

Can the Longhorns stop the run? For the last three weeks, Mack Brown has expressed concern about the ability of the defensive line to stop the run. First, it was Donald Buckram, then Speedy Stewart, and now it's Oklahoma's pair of successful backs. After passing the first two tests, Texas now faces the best rushing attack they will face until, well, a couple weeks from now. Chris Brown pegs it as the major matchup of the game and he's right to do so considering that during the Brown-Stoops era, no team has won with fewer rushing yards than the opponent.

On the surface, then, it would seem like a game for Ben Alexander, who has made a huge leap his senior season to become a key contributor at the thin defensive tackle position. However, the Sooners like to push the tempo to keep defenses from substituting, so Muschamp will have to carefully weigh the advantages of Alexander versus the running game against Alexander's skills rushing the passer, certainly not his strength. Another important matchup will be Lamarr Houston against the depleted interior of the OU line -- he might go against JUCO transfer Tavaris Jefferies, the replacement for Brian Simmons, which seems to favor the disruptive Houston.

One final thought -- can OU suck any more than it does? I believe the answer is no, but I wouldn't put it past them...

SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable – Our Heart Goes Out To Baylor Edition

ccmachine — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:41:23 -0000

Lots of love goes out to the guys at Rock M Nation for making this Big 12 Roundtable happen. Just wanted them to know that they were appreciated and maybe, just maybe, if I suck up a little they'll include a quote or two from CC Machine in the recap.

Now, on to this week's questions. How are you feeling about the loss of Robert Griffin? Keep reading to see my thoughts (Hint: I feel a lot worse for Baylor than I do the Big 12) but we want to know yours on all the questions and not just this one. Let us know by using the comments section.

Is it time for the Big 12 to collectively pour one out for the departure of Baylor quarterback Robert "Hot Tub" Griffin? Even if your team benefits from his injury, are you sad to see one of the conference's premier playmakers done for the season?

Yes! I hated to see his injury and even worse to know that it was season ending. The Big 12 will be fine without Griffin because there is no shortage of players with star caliber around the conference but the Baylor Bears won't be fine without him. Without Griffin the Baylor Bears are reduced to being...well...the Baylor Bears. They are on a direct course to a last place finish in the Big 12 South and they hype of a possible bowl appearance will die a miserable death. I have little to no confidence that Blake Szymanski will lead them to the type of bigger and better things Griffin was expected to.

In a freaky ironic twist the Bears picked up a verbal commitment from Robert Griffin on Tuesday.

2. Play the role of Mythbusters for us. If you could dispel one national perception of your team, what would it be?

Well, the national perception of Oklahoma is that they are a great team that plays very well in the regular season, wins lots of conference championships but just can't seem to win a bowl game. How am I supposed to dispel that?

I guess that I could point out that Bob Stoops and his team did win the 2000 BCS Championship 13-2 over Florida State in the Orange Bowl, or the 2002 Cotton Bowl, or the 2003 Rose Bowl or even the 2005 Holiday Bowl. I just don't think those answers would suffice. Oh...wait...you mean the actual team on the field?

Well there is the perception that the offensive line if horrible and un-cohesive. I can dispel that very quickly by telling you to look at the last two games. Sure I realize that the competition was Idaho State and Tulsa but the issues with this line weren't physical they were mental. The last eight quarters of Sooner football have shown this unit to be mentally focused to reach their physical potential.

3. Give us the name of one player on each side of the ball on your team that everyone else in the conference may not know about or fully appreciate.

Who doesn't know the names on Oklahoma's offense? Even the backup quarterback was named the National Player of the Week. However, Brandon Caleb looks to be a name that you'll want to keep up with. Much of the attention in the receiving corps is going to Ryan Broyles who leads the nation in touchdown receptions but Caleb is quietly having a solid season himself. In Oklahoma's last game, against Tulsa, he caught 5 passes for 104 yards and 2 touchdowns.

On defense Ryan Reynolds is making a name for himself again. The kid is literally making plays all over the field. Tackles behind the line of scrimmage, quarterback sacks, interceptions and smashing hits have been the norm for this kid in the first three games of the season. Against Tulsa he had 10 tackles in the first half.

4. OU vs. Da U: Who ya' got?

You're just going to have to keep reading this week to find out the answer to this question.

5. Give us your Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Storyline of the Week for last week.

Offensive Player of the Week: Danario Alexander (WR Missouri) - 9 catches, 170 yards, 2 touchdowns.

Defensive Player of the Week: Earl Thomas (S Texas) - 2 INT's

Storyline of the Week: The pirate ship is sinking at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders have lost two in a row (coaching can be questioned in both losses), offensive lineman Brandon Carter has been suspended indefinitely and Twitter has been banned. Sounds like someone needs a come to Jesus meeting.

6. Power Poll! Rank the teams 1-12 based on who would win on a neutral field.

1. Texas

2. Oklahoma

3. Kansas

4. Oklahoma State

5. Nebraska

6. Missouri

7. Texas Tech

8. Texas A&M

9. Kansas State

10. Baylor

11. Iowa State

12. Colorado

SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable - Week 4 Recap

RPT — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:00:17 -0000

This week's SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable Recap takes a look at some of the different thoughts expressed around the Big 12 blogosphere. This week's participants included Corn Nation, Rock Chalk Talk, Rock M Nation, I Am The 12th Man, The Ralphie Report, Burnt Orange Nation, Clone Chronicles, and Crimson and Cream Machine.

1. The game between Texas Tech and Texas got the Big 12 in the national eye early in the season. If your team was approached with this opportunity (or for Tech and Texas, approached again), would you accept and reap the benefits of the exposure, or decline because of the potential pitfalls of playing a conference foe so early in the season?

All of the respondents seem to agree that the benefits of moving a conference game to earlier in the season is heavily weighted upon the opponent. GhostofBigRoy of Burnt Orange Nation looked at the states of Texas and Texas Tech this season and what the early game meant in that regard:

I think it probably depends on the complexion of the team that season. With an experienced, seasoned team like Texas has this season, it's not as much of a concern -- in fact, facing a new Texas Tech quarterback in his first road start was probably a big advantage for the Longhorns. And that's not a dig at Taylor Potts, who was outstanding during the game, but the Longhorns could have had much more trouble with a battle-tested Red Raider squad at the end of a tough four-game stretch later in the season.

If ESPN comes along next season with a similar plan, though, when the Longhorns will be breaking in their own first-year starter, it would probably make more sense to decline and play the game later in the season. A school like Texas doesn't need the exposure nearly as much as, say, some of the teams in the North Division, so it's probably not worthwhile to risk a conference loss early in the season that has a much better chance of being a win later in the year.

2. Some of the Big 12 teams are starting to become known quantities, but there are still a few teams that most of us can't quite measure. Which team in the Big 12 do you consider the biggest enigma right now?

It was a surprising array of responses here, with votes being cast for Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Missouri, Texas A&M, and according to I Am The 12th Man, Colorado:

As strange as it sounds, the biggest enigma in the conference may be Colorado. Are they the two who were drilled in two straight games against Colorado State and Toledo? Or are they the team that may be figuring things out after shutting out Wyoming, 24-0? I think Colorado's defense will be a weak spot because of poor safety play, but if they can get their running game going (45 carries for 151 yds isn't going to cut it), they could become a decent team.

Whereas we don't have enough information on most teams to make judgements, Jon of The Ralphie Report is dealing with the fact that we all have conflicting information on Oklahoma State:

Oklahoma State. I'm really torn about this team, as well as two of the teams that they have played. It will be a few weeks and a few more games before we have a good idea how strong Houston (we should know much more about the Cougars after this weekends game with Texas Tech), Georgia (who looked MUCH better against South Carolina) and the Cowboys are.

3. What did you learn about your team in Week 3, and what questions has your team failed to answer at this point of the season?

Husker Mike of Corn Nation was able to erase any doubts about tailback Roy Helu the Husker D after a heartbreaker to Virginia Tech, but now has some questions at quarterback and receiver:

Husker fans think that Nebraska has one of the best running backs in the conference in Roy Helu and one of the best defenses in the conference, an end of game breakdown notwithstanding. However, a very impressive passing game disintegrated in Blacksburg. Whether that's due to Tech having another stout defense or whether Saturday's game exposed Nebraska's quarterback and receivers as frauds remain to be seen. Certainly Jason Worilds disrupted Zac Lee and forced him to make plays. He did ok in the second quarter, but dismally in much of the second half.

4. There aren't exactly a whole lot of marquee matchups in Week 4. Which Big 12 game this week not involving your team piques your interest the most?

While most of the conference's eyes are understandably on Texas Tech's trip to Houston, Clone Chronicles has its eye on Kansas' first decent test of the season:

Southern Miss vs. Kansas. On the surface it doesn’t seem like a great game, but I think Southern Miss has the talent of a Top 25 team, and this game is going to tell me a lot about this team.

5. Give us your Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Surprise (team, individual, coaching decision, etc. Whatever you want it to be...) of the Week.

Offensive Player of the Week honors went in a runaway to Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones, though Dez Bryant and Uzoma Nwachukwu also received votes.

Defensive Player of the Week nominations were FAR more diverse. Three Longhorns -- Sergio Kindle, Rodderick Muckelroy, and Emmanuel Acho -- each earned one nomination. Other single votes were cast for Texas A&M's Von Miller, Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh, Oklahoma State's Donald Booker, Oklahoma's Ryan Reynolds, and the entire Oklahoma defense.

The Surprise of the Week category resulted in some rather interesting responses. Most of the responses centered around either Colorado's blanking of Wyoming or Texas Tech's feistiness in Austin. Rock Chalk Talk had this to say of the Raiders performance on Saturday:

In the first half, Tech looked the part of last year. They had a good-enough defense, a bunch of firepower on offense and a Pirate calling the shots. And considering how everything went to the tank last year, this year's team may end up with a similar record. Tech's D played excellent in the first half, and while they dropped off in the second, they were still passable. Bravo.

6. Power Poll! Rank the teams from 1-12 based on which team would win on a neutral field.

1. Texas (8 first place votes) (Average ranking: 1.000)
2. Oklahoma (2.500)
3. Kansas (4.375)
T4. Oklahoma State (4.500)
T4. Nebraska (4.500)
6. Missouri (5.250)
7. Texas Tech (5.875)
8. Baylor (8.375)
9. Texas A&M (8.625)
10. Iowa State (10.375)
11. Kansas State (11.250)
12. Colorado (11.375)

SB Nation Big 12 Roundtable - Week 4

Mark Kieffer — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:00:22 -0000

This week's installment of our weekley Big 12 Roundtable is hosted by Rock M Nation. Check later in the week for consolidated results. Below are Clone Chronicles' answers:

I am all for playing a conference opponent early. ISU currently doesn’t schedule a bye week during the season, and playing the 8 conference games all in a row can be rough. I wouldn’t mind getting a game over with earlier in the year, if then later in the year there would be a relatively easy non-conference game in the middle, to give the team confidence going into the last several weeks of the Big 12 season. This is going to benefit Miami a lot as they knocked off a 2 ACC foes early

Missouri. Are they rebuilding or have they reloaded? They stumbled against Bowling Green which I found suprising, but have looked good otherwise. That Thursday night game against Nebraska coming soon is going to tell me a lot about that team.

3. What did you learn about your team in Week 3, and what questions has your team failed to answer at this point of the season?

That we can beat teams we are supposed to beat on the road. The questions that I do not know is can ISU’s front four make an impact on the game? They haven’t done much in the way of sacks and tackles and will need to in order to win some Big 12 games. Also is the running game for real? Alexander Robinson is almost halfway to last year’s rushing total already, and ISU is averaging 5.6 yards/carry in 2009 thus far vs. 4.0 yards/carry in 2008.

4. There aren't exactly a whole lot of marquee matchups in Week 4. Which Big 12 game this week not involving your team piques your interest the most?

Southern Miss vs. Kansas. On the surface it doesn’t seem like a great game, but I think Southern Miss has the talent of a Top 25 team, and this game is going to tell me a lot about this team. I also think that Texas Tech at Houston will be interesting as Tech doesn’t play all that well away from home, and if they do, this will likely be a shootout.

5. Give us your Offensive Player of the Week, Defensive Player of the Week, and Surprise (team, individual, coaching decision, etc. Whatever you want it to be...) of the Week.

Offensive POW: Dez Bryant, WR, OSU – 9 catches, 161 yards, 2 TDs
Defensive POW: Ryan Reynolds, LB, OU – 13 tackles, 2 sacks
Suprise of the Week: Texas Tech playing Texas close

6. Power Poll! Rank the teams from 1-12 based on which team would win on a neutral field

Texas

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Kansas

Nebraska

Texas Tech

Missouri

Texas A&M

Baylor

Iowa State

Kansas State

Colorado

Tulsa Game Position Grades

ccmachine — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:28:19 -0000

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I have to admit, I expected a much tighter game against Tulsa last Saturday. I didn't think it would be the kind of game to be won by a field goal or anything but I did expect the Golden Hurricane to at least score. To say that the Sooners played good is an understatement and to say that Tulsa was a Top 25 caliber opponent is an overstatement. However, TU should have been a stronger test for the Sooners and their inability to impress had a lot more to do with OU than it did with us touting an opponent too highly. Good Grades are in abundance this week!

Quarterback A

Let's hear it for the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week! Landry Jones completed 25 of 37 passes for 336 yards and a school record 6 touchdowns. He did throw two interceptions on two really bad passes and he still seems to occasionally lock in on a receiver without reading through his progressions so there is room for improvement but we must applaud the effort.

Running Backs A+

DeMarco Murray averaged 6 yards per carry and Chris Brown 4.6. Neither back scored on the ground but Murray made and amazing touchdown catch in which he spun around twice and flipped into the end zone. Murray had two catches for 38 yards and a score. In mop up time Jonathan Miller, for the second week in a row, looked stronger and faster than Jermie Calhoun. As a team the Sooners rushed for 193 yards.

Receiver/Tight End A

Adron Tennell's dropped touchdown pass was surprisingly not shocking based on his on field productivity so far this season. Trent Ratterree also joined Tennell in dropping a touchdown pass and while this has been a recurring theme for Oklahoma this season it was only a subplot on Saturday while Brandon Caleb having his breakout game was the main story. Caleb hauled in 5 passes for 104 and two touchdowns to become the perfect complement to Ryan Broyles who added 128 and three touchdowns on 11 catches. Landry Jones also found his tight ends on his record day as a Sooner. Jones completed passes to James Hanna and Eric Mensik.

Offensive Line A

No one is ready to anoint this group as championship ready but they've come a long way since opening night. The line gave up no sacks on Saturday afternoon and helped Oklahoma to an average of 6.5 yards per play on offense. This line looks more mentally focused than they've been all season which is good because they are about to face a stretch in which the level of their success will define the rest of Oklahoma's season.

Defensive Line A

Oklahoma's defensive line had Tulsa quarterback G.J. Kinne running for his life all day long. Jeremy Beal had three sacks and a forced fumble, Adrian Taylor recovered a fumble and Oklahoma ran a plethora of players through the line.

Linebackers A+

Ryan Reynolds let the team in tackles with 13 and was followed by Keenan Clayton who had 11. Travis Lewis added 7 tackles to the linebackers totals giving the starters 31 total tackles. Reynolds also had two sacks and Lewis had one.

Secondary A+

This was a physical game for Oklahoma's secondary and it needed to be. As we stated in our pregame coverage, Oklahoma's secondary making sure tackles and big plays would be the key to shutting down the Tulsa offense. Brian Jackson and Quinton Carter responded with 9 tackles and an interception each. Sam Proctor also added 5 tackles.

Special Teams A

The chief criticism with this unit was the missed field goal but as a whole they had a very solid game. I guess we could also call out the partially blocked punt. However, OU averaged 42 yards per punt and held Tulsa without a return. They also held Tulsa to just 21 yards per kickoff return while taking their lone kickoff return 32 yards.