SB Nation - Mossis Madu

Morning Coffee Loves Beating OU

GhostofBigRoy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:31:57 -0000

More photos » by Donna McWilliam - AP

Flavor of the Week at running back: Cody Johnson. Yes, one might be inclined to suggest that Fozzy Whittaker deserves this honor after what was undoubtedly his best performance in a Longhorn uniform and to further suggest that the only reason Cody Johnson is receiving this coveted honor is because the Flavor of the Week must change, avoid repeats as long as possible. Both valid arguments.

However, there are several reasons for Johnson winning the award this week -- the first reason is the hard work that he put in this fall to lose nearly 20 pounds and maximize his quickness. Yes, he should have been in better shape coming into fall practice, but the point is that right now he is where he needs to be physically. The second reason is that the coaching staff seems to finally have settled on the proper role for Johnson -- a fourth-quarter battering ram to bludgeon tired defenses. Mack Brown spent a lot of time during the spring and beginning of fall practice talking about wanting to run a better four-minute drill at the end of games to kill the clock and maintain possession of the football. For that role, Johnson is the perfect weapon.

Johnson also wins this award because against Oklahoma he looked as quick as he ever have, but more importantly, he ran angry, with a purpose, instead of the tentative Johnson from earlier in the season. The end result -- five carries for 31 yards, helping him finish with the highest per-carry average on the team for the game, while also catching a pass out of the backfield for a six-yard gain. He won't ever be a big-play threat in the passing game, but if he can make himself available for McCoy to pick up positive yardage on otherwise well-defended plays it can provide a big lift to an offense struggling to find an identity.

The bottom line is that Johnson provides the Longhorns with a serious weapon in games that are close into the fourth quarter and in situations where Texas needs to kill the clock. Nice to see him finally deployed in a way that strategically makes sense other than his specialty, short-yardage situations.

Musical chairs at the receiver position. John Chiles took a beating in PB's Postgame React due to his inability to separate from defenders. Well deserved after catching two passes for one yard on the day, one of them on a slip screen that Oklahoma clealry saw coming, as they did not even bother to line up a defensvie back over him. Had he just run straight down the field he probably would have been open. James Kirkendoll picked up a personal foul penalty for head-butting Quinton Carter, who apparently took acting lessons this off season from former punter Mike Knall and would have made Vlade Divac or your average Argentinian basketball player proud with his subsequent flop. Kirkendoll caught three passes for 11 yards and may be the biggest disappointment in the receiving corps after so much off season talk about how consistently he runs routes. Besides the Wyoming game, Kirkendoll has provided little in the way of help this season on offense and has been giving questionable effort.

So, exit Kirkendoll and Chiles, enter Malcolm Williams and Marquise Goodwin. During his Monday press conference, Brown spoke about wanting to run the ball better to open up more play-action possibilities downfield, which is where Williams enters the equation. The bottom line is that the other receivers haven't produced, so it's time to finally, belatedly, see what Williams can do with his first shot at extended playing time. As for Goodwin, the touchdown catch and the diving play near the sideline illustrate just how good he can be with more opportunities. It's cliche now given that he's proven all season that he's a football player willing to put as much of a hit on defenders as he can, but it's true. He's a football player who also happens to be an all-world track star and the future at Texas is incredibly bright for that young man. It's also worth noting that Jordan Shipley will return to the flanker position that he occupied most of the last season after failing to create separation against Oklahoma's Brian Jackson, who surely raised his NFL stock with his strong performance on Saturday.

Tracking: playmaking defense. What a change a year can make. After forcing five turnovers against Oklahoma, with two coming on special teams, the Longhorns now have three more turnovers than they forced all of last season. Individually, Earl Thomas now has five interceptions, only one fewer than the team had as a whole in 2008 and good enough to tie for the national lead in that category. Apparently not content to allow his brother to recover all the fumbles, Emmanuel Acho joined the party with two fumble recoveries and would have had a chance at the fumble Thomas forced near the goalline had he broken down a little better instead of overrunning the football. Hey, at this point, if an Acho is around a loose football and doesn't recover it, it's a remarkable occurrence.

Curtis Brown and Deon Beasley, once regarded as the two least physical members of the entire defense, put hard hits on Oklahoma players to knock the ball out, with Beasley's play probably ranking as his best at Texas, though there really isn't much competition. Like Michael Huff and Aaron Ross before them, it's now time to say that Duane Akina has finally molded them into football players. At points last season, I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to say that about them.

Consider for a second the stats put up by Earl Thomas -- seven tackles, two for loss, three pass break ups, one forced fumble, and one interception. Thomas had huge expectations for growth entering the season and it's safe to say that he has fulfilled those expectations and perhaps even gone beyond them. His play on the interception was just beautiful -- he faked the blitz towards the line of scrimmage, then dropped back into coverage and showed off his excellent speed doing so. Kid is fun to watch and it will be a travesty if he doesn't win a Thorpe Award at Texas.

Speaking of which, he might end up with some serious competition from Aaron Williams, who recovered from the biggest mistake of his career, the missed tackle on the long touchdown by Ryan Broyles, by using his sick vertical leap to catch a pass that Landry Jones was trying to throw out of bounds. You can watch football for a long time and never see a more athletic pick than that. Oh yeah, and he also knocked the reigning Heisman winner out of the game. If Will Muschamp could engineer a nickel back, he would have a hard time making a more perfect player than Aaron Williams. Simply incredible.

It's easy to forget now how much the Longhorns had to replace on the defensive line losing four players who were essentially starters or major members of the rotation in Roy Miller, Brian Orakpo, Aaron Lewis, and Henry Melton. This group inside is playing about as well as you could ask -- even though Sergio Kindle doesn't have the gaudy sack numbers, every team slides their protection to his side of the field and he still makes plays, pressuring the quarterback and playing the running game so quickly and aggressively that he's able to consistently make plays up and down the line of scrimmage. The player that he has become in the last season and a half makes his usage through his first two seasons at Texas all the more criminal. Shame on you, Gene Chizik, Larry Mac Duff, and Duane Akina.

Sam Acho's play on the other side deserves plaudits as well -- he has made the jump predicted in his first season lagging heavy snaps. Then there's the interior of the line, supposedly a major weakness. Remember that? Seems so long ago, doesn't it, since we were all wringing our hands about the defensive tackle position? Lamarr Houston has been unbelievable and Ben Alexander continues to play extremely well in his last season on the 40 Acres. Kheeston Randall has held his own, but now has at least three roughing the passer penalties on the season and that needs to stop. Like, yesterday. Oscar Giles and Mike Tolleson both deserve a raise after the job they have done with this group. Phenomenal.

Tracking: special teams. The special teams may not have scored a touchdown on Saturday, but they sure worked hard at it. Deon Beasley's forced fumble along the sideline nearly led to a scoop and score by Malcolm Williams, but I still have no idea how the officials ended up determining that it was Texas ball at the OU 18. As mentioned below, the field goal kicking was perfect from Hunter Lawrence and the rubgy punt was much more effective this week from Justin Tucker, who did not kick the ball left-footed during the game.

Of his eight punts on the day, Tucker put three inside the Oklahoma 20 yardline and averaged 45 yards per attempt, including one 60-yarder. The concern is that he's having trouble consistently getting the ball to fall in front of opponents to get that good roll he consistently got last season, which creates another problem -- with the low, line-drive nature of the punts, it's easy to out-kick the coverage, especially if the punt travels 40 or more yards in the air. That precise scenario allowed Dominique Franks to return a punt 30 yards to midfield. After a week of evaluating whether to stick with the rugby punting or return to using John Gold, Brown clearly made the philosophical decision to stick with Tucker and that simply may be the way that Texas continues to punt in the future.

The return game was not as effective as it has been, with Shipley picking up negative yardage on his two punt returns and DJ Monroe failing to break off any long plays on his three returns. On the positive side, Antwan Cobb returned a sky kick 18 yards and Monroe was effective, averaging 25 yards a return, certainly enough to give the Longhorns the good field position they enjoyed for most of the day.

The Sooners made the smart decision to block Marquise Goodwin when punting, but Aaron Williams came free on the edge and nearly blocked the first attempt of the day. Good to see him return to action in that capacity. On the other side, the Longhorns covered kicks as well as they have this season, holding Mossis Madu to only 21 yards per return on the day.

Overall, it's clear that the Sooners have worked hard in the last year to shore up their kick coverage and did a passable job by not allowing any long returns by Jordan Shipley or DJ Monroe. However, it's equally clear that Texas will continue to win the special teams phase of the game if the Longhorns can continue to cover kicks and get good production of Justin Tucker rugby punting. And it should be a major relief to Texas fans that Hunter Lawrence proved himself so capable on such a pick stage. Way to go, kicker.

Randomness. Let's do this bullet-style.

The game plan running the football was excellent against Oklahoma with some actual misdirection and using DJ Monroe in motion on the jet sweep. Kudos to the coaching staff. The plan in the passing game? Not so much.
Recently, PB asked me about where I would rank this Texas defense and after that performance against Oklahoma, it has to rank right up there with 2005, but this team even seems to have a few more playmakers on it. Another performance like that against Missouri and I might be inclined to put them in front of that excellent 2005 unit.
Fozzy Whittaker won the Hard Hat award this week after crashing into Thomas following a personal foul committed by Oklahoma. Mack Brown said that the team had a good laugh about that at the meeting.
How clutch was Hunter Lawrence? Anyone who has watched teams like South Florida over the years knows that field goals of over 40 yards are far from gimmes in the college game and Lawrence nailed identical 42-yarders. You can bet that Bobby Petrino would have sacrificed one of his children to have someone that consistent against Florida this weekend.
Blake Gideon missed six tackles by himself against Oklahoma. Christian Scott let his team down terribly by failing to remain eligible and I wonder how his teammates will accept him back next season, assuming that he makes progress academically -- will it be hard for them to trust someone who left them hanging with his own selfishness?
Why has the offensive line been such a disaster in the first half of so many games, only to respond with sometimes-dominant performances in the second half? I love the ability to finish, but why the consistently poor play early?
You may have heard rumors about OU still sucking. Absolutely true.

Are The Sooners Looking To Jaz Up The Offense?

ccmachine — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:54:58 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Unfortunately this has been the theme for Oklahoma's wide receivers in `09 as dropped passes have been in abundance. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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The answer to Oklahoma's struggles at the outside receiver position could have been under everyone's noses all along. The Daily Oklahoman brought up a great point about possibly playing Jaz Reynolds because he hasn't been moved to the scout team and is still working out with the receivers. I have to say that I agree with them! In a worst case scenario Reynolds could drop passes just as good as Adron Tennell has. However, in a better case scenario Reynolds' 6-3 frame and speed could wind up being the compliment to slot receiver Ryan Broyles that is so desperately needed. The thing is, though, is that he's got to be able to catch the ball.

Oklahoma Receiving Stats
	Name	G	Rec	Yds	Y/G	Avg	Lng	TD
	Ryan Broyles	2	11	181	90.5	16.5	51	4
	Brandon Caleb	2	5	71	35.5	14.2	18	0
	DeMarco Murray	2	4	50	25.0	12.5	27	0
	Chris Brown	2	3	36	18.0	12.0	17	0
	Jermie Calhoun	2	2	22	11.0	11.0	17	0
	Adron Tennell	1	2	20	20.0	10.0	13	0
	Dejuan Miller	2	3	18	9.0	6.0	8	0
	Cameron Kenney	1	1	15	15.0	15.0	15	0
	Trent Ratterree	1	1	12	12.0	12.0	12	0
	Mossis Madu	2	2	8	4.0	4.0	4	0

Coming out of high school Reynolds ran a 4.5 forty and had a 37 inch vertical. The problem is that Oklahoma has a several guys on their roster who have good size and speed but when the lights come on and a defender lines up across from them they suddenly develop hands of stone. That's where Reynolds could have the opportunity to step up and be an impact player as a true freshman.

"You don't want to waste the year, but I think he's close to being in the mix," Wilson said. "With this week and then the open date, I think he either gets in or you look to that redshirt." - Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson on Jaz Reynolds

One of the arguments against such a move would be not wanting to burn a redshirt on a guy with promising potential when you've got juniors and seniors on your two deep. However, there isn't a single one of those guys who hasn't been hit in the breadbasket and dropped the ball. At this point Oklahoma needs a tall speedy receiver who can catch the ball on the field more than they need a freshman with potential to redshirt.

The other issue with a potential move like this is whether Reynolds can catch the ball or not. We won't know the answer to that he isn't given the opportunity to try. Like I said earlier, the worst case scenario is that he drops passes the same way that the other guys have. With all due respect to Adron Tennell and Brandon Caleb, there appears to be a reason they've been buried on the depth chart their whole careers at Oklahoma. Now as upperclassmen they've been given two opportunities to step up and have bombed. They don't even have to be the go-to guys either because Oklahoma already has one of those in Ryan Broyles. They just need to be guys who can make a catch and take some heat off the go-to guy.

Jaz Reynolds received 9 scholarship offers coming out of high school. I'm assuming that it wasn't because he has a tendency to drop passes.

An Attempt To Properly Summarize The Debacle In Arlington

dishingoutdimes — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:02:17 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Agonizingly close - the story of the game. Oklahoma tight end Trent Ratterree (47) is unable to pull in a pass on their final offensive drive against BYU during an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

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Where to begin, where to begin? There were, and still are, so many thoughts running through my head, it will be very difficult to properly summarize the game. First, and foremost, this was a team loss. You absolutely cannot pin this loss on Bradford getting injured. We were playing poorly before the injury, and we played poorly after the injury. Many facets of the game plan failed and the team as a whole underachieved. You have to give credit where credit is due and congratulate BYU for their victory.

Before I delve into everything that went wrong, a couple of points. (1) You have to at least be encouraged that, despite the sloppy and underachieving play, we only lost by a point to a very good football team. Despite losing the heart and soul of the team, we only lost by one...measly...point. There are many things that went wrong with our performance, but we were always in the game. That offers some hope. (2) You have to feel absolutely terrible for Sam Bradford. He's a great guy and a team leader. Apparently he worked in the offseason because he didn't want to have the bitter taste of defeat in the crimson and cream again:

It bothers him [Sam Bradford] quite a bit. The last national championship game, that really hit him hard. I could see it…He prepared himself the most I’ve ever seen. --Reserve QB John Nimmo

Finally, Sam Bradford's return timetable remains cloudier than ever. The official report remains that he sprained the AC joint in his right (throwing) shoulder. OU coaches shed absolutely no light on the timetable today. For relatively minor versions of the injury, a 2-3 week recovery is the norm. Purdue QB Curtis Painter was sidelined for two weeks last season with a similar injury, and didn't start until the fourth week. If, and this is a big if, Sam Bradford follows a similar timetable, he would be suited up and ready to start by the Miami game.

But enough of the unknown future, let's talk about what went wrong (after the jump).

Final - 9.5.2009	1	2	3	4	Total
BYU Cougars	0	7	0	7	14
Oklahoma Sooners	7	3	0	3	13

Complete Coverage >

It was a very ugly game. The first thing that immediately stood out was the amount of penalties; the Sooners committed 12 for 93 yards, and some more were declined. Holding and false start penalties repeatedly killed drives or moved the team out of scoring position. The sloppiness of the play, especially on the offensive line, was remarkable.

The thing that amazed me more was the defense. The run defense was as good as advertised, holding the Cougars to 28 yards rushing on 33 attempts, for 0.8 yards per rush. By comparison, BYU threw the ball 38 times, so they employed a balanced attack, but the defense managed to shut down the run. Additionally, the defense was as opportunistic as they were last year forcing 4 turnovers (2 fumbles, 2 interceptions). These turnovers helped negate a fairly stellar performance from Max Hall and the BYU passing attack (26-38 329 yards 2 TD), as well as an 8-17 3rd down success rate (47%). I cannot understand how the run defense can be so exceptional, while the pass defense had so many holes.

It seems like the pass defense scheme we use now relies a lot on zone coverage. When mixed with linebacker or safety blitzes, it left gaping holes over the middle of the field on many plays. This probably contributed to Hall's high completion rate and the amount of YAC that BYU receivers got.

Team Stats

	Pts	Yrds	Pass	Rush
Offense	13	265.0	147.0	118.0

The Sooners were outgained 357 yards to 265 yards. Compared with BYU converting their third down attempts nearly half of the time, the Sooners had a paltry 2-11 conversion rate (18%). Oh, and did you remember that their only offensive touchdown was set up by a muffed punt at the BYU 35 yard line? We simply could not move the ball. Not to mention, OU lost two fumbles and were outpossessed 37:02 to 22:58 or about 15 minutes.

Therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that the defense was a little gassed at the end of the game. I've seen a few newspaper articles and comments that suggest the defense gave the game away on the last BYU drive. That's absolutely not true. The defense kept us in the game for the entire game despite the offense not doing very much at all, and the defense having to be on the field about 61% longer than the offense. I'm quite proud of the fact that despite all of those hurdles, the defense only gave up 14 points.

Meanwhile, the areas of concern on the team reared their heads in this game. The offensive line - the lightning rod of concern all offseason - validated critics' questioning by performing poorly. Holding penalties and chop blocks are often the method of last resort when you are getting out-muscled and out-played, and that's exactly what happened to the line. Barry Tramel at the Oklahoman poses an interesting question. Will the no huddle work with this new offensive line unit? Perhaps they're just not cut out for it. You can't argue it was effective in this game. The offensive drives stalled, but instead of an offense that huddles, the drives failed faster, placing a greater playing-time burden on the defense.

The other unit of concern was the wide receivers, and understandably, since it seemed like they were invisible for a lot of the game. We had zero big plays in the passing game. I had to have counted at least five drops, some at critical moments in the game. And, I thought we were going to have a deep rotation of guys who had battled it out in the camps. What happened to that? I kept hearing about Cameron Kenney and how he could stretch the field and make a big impact. Where was Mossis Madu? It seemed like we used the same personnel all game and made no attempt to change things up.

Critical Failures In The Game

Situation: Oklahoma ball, 3rd down and 5 yards to go at OKLA 30 yard line.
Time: About 14 minutes to go in the 1st quarter.
Result: Two consecutive false start penalties.

On the first Oklahoma drive, they ran plays on 1st and 2nd down that netted 10 yards in total. This would have been good enough for a first down, except they had a total of three false start penalties, and two of them occurred right after the Sooners had secured a manageable 3rd down and 5. A terrible way to start the game.

Situation: Following a Reynolds interception and two 7-yard rushes by DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma ball, 1st down and 10 yards to go at BYU 16 yard line
Time: About 3 minutes to go in the 1st quarter.
Result: DeMarco Murray rushes 9 yards to the BYU 5 yard line but fumbles.

Our offense had finally found a rhythm and we were running the ball down their throats. At this point in the game, they were back on their heels and we had a chance to extend our lead to two touchdowns (we were up 7-0). At the very least we took 3 points off the board, but probably 7. Remember that, as I'm going to tally up how many points we took off the board via mistakes.

Situation: Following a 17-yard pass and 13-yard pass by Bradford, and a 15-yard late hit personal foul on BYU, it was 1st down and 10 yards to go at the BYU 35.
Time: About 4 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter.
Result: Screen pass to Ryan Broyles for -1 yards that was fumbled and recovered by BYU.

Again, our offense was driving and we were finally taking advantage of mistakes that BYU was making. The score was still 7-0 OU at this point but we could have extended our lead going into halftime. We weren't close enough to the goal line to project a touchdown, but I think it's fair to say we might have expected a field goal out of this drive. We took 3 points off the board here. Not to mention, it set up a BYU scoring drive right before the half - for a 10 point swing (BYU tied it at 7-7).

Situation: Opening up the third quarter, the first plays on two consecutive drives.
Time: 3rd quarter
Result: Penalties

Trying to get Landry Jones into a groove probably wouldn't have been as difficult had his first two drives gone a little differently. He opened up the second half at quarterback. On the first drive, the offensive line committed an illegal chop block, a 15-yard penalty on the first play that essentially killed the drive. On the second drive, a holding penalty right off the bat made it 1st and 20. On the next two plays, Jones completed two passes for a total of 11 yards, a total that would have netted a first down under normal circumstances.

Situation: Oklahoma ball, 2nd and 4 from the BYU 8 yard line.
Time: Start of the 4th quarter
Result: 8 consecutive attemps from within the 10 yard line all fail to net a touchdown. Settle for FG to make it 13-7 OU.

This sequence really doomed us. We ran eight plays within the 10 yard line and only came away with a field goal. This is reminiscent of the National Championship game from last year, and it took 4 points off the board. It's obviously the point in the game that most people will remember, but we took points off the board in much bigger quantities earlier in the game. One of the plays we ran was a field goal attempt, and that was only after a delay of game penalty pushed us back from the 1/2 yard line to the 5 yard line. Had OU taken a timeout instead of letting the play clock expire, they likely would have had a very good chance to score from basically right on the goal line. Five of the other plays were runs. Of the five runs, only four yards were gained, for an average of 0.8 yards per rush in this sequence. In comparison, Landry Jones attempted two passes. One was dropped by Matt Clapp on the goal line. The other was on target to Ryan Broyles but pass interference was called. There was a distinct lack of variety in the playcalling, and a lack of confidence in the passing game, that caused this drive to stall out about a football's length from paydirt.

Things To Note

Totalling up everything from above, and including the delay of game penalty that pushed us out of range for the last field goal attempt, OU was responsible for taking about 17 points off the board. If you include the fact that we set up a BYU touchdown, our mistakes basically cost us a 24-point swing in the game. These aren't things that you can pass off as bad luck or officiating.
When we pushed the tempo and passed the ball out of more of a spread formation, rather than an "Ace" or "I-formation", we moved the ball effectively. Points weren't scored because of mistakes, but eliminate those mistakes and we have a formula for success. This is especially true because our pass blocking was better than our run blocking, the Bradford injury notwithstanding.
Penalties created too many third-and-long situations, especially when Landry Jones was in the game. With a redshirt freshman quarterback being thrust into the fire, the last thing you want to do is make his job as difficult as possible.
The playcalling was unimaginative and conservative, something that caused our offense to score only - surprise, 14 points - in the National Championship game as well. There were stretches in the game in which similar plays were called repeatedly - 5 between-tackle runs in a row, 7 passes in a row, etc. The wildcat formation was wildly ineffective and doesn't really make sense for the players that we have. I don't think a single pass was attempted that went more than 10-15 yards down field in the air. We need to open up the playbook. I could almost blame the lack of offensive production as much on the offensive playcalling as I could on the penalties and fumbles.
To anyone (especially non-Sooner fans) knocking the "Big Game Bob" nickname, take a look at the conference championships he's won - 6 in total. Over his first seven years coaching at OU, he won three Big 12 Championships. Over the last three years? He's won three more Big 12 Championships. Sure, OU has choked in a few "big" games, mostly to teams ranked about 15-25 at venues away from Norman. However, more often than not, Bob figures out a way to nab the conference championship in a very competitive conference. And let's not forget, this years' Sooners have not even started the conference slate yet. Let's not forget the team that struggled out of the gates in 2006, but rebounded for a championship over Nebraska.

Perspective and Realistic Expectations

No, the world is not coming to an end. If OU was going to lose a game, it was best for them to have it happen at the very beginning of the season, and especially in a season where they were ranked #3 in preseason polls. If you assume most of the reports about Gresham and Bradford are true (out for a few weeks), then they should both be able to utilize the bye week in their recovery, perhaps only also missing Idaho State and Tulsa. Both of those games are at home.

Here's something else - Landry Jones did not play bad. He had a couple of drives cut short by penalties. He looked competent against a hungry defense on a talented team. He was only 6-12 but I would bet at least half of those incompletions were due to dropped balls. And the guy was a four star recruit! He can play football. I'm sure the coaches will be able to get him ready for the next game. Based on the reports that have been printed in the paper, he already has the respect of everyone in the locker room.

If we can't fix the penalties and the inconsistent play of the wide receivers and the offensive line, then this is not a national championship caliber team. Period. They have the talent to win a title, but right now it's not meshing. They have time to work things out, and voters would likely be more forgiving for an opening game loss involving injuries to two major offensive stars than a loss at any other time in the season, or under any other circumstances.

The national title hopes took a major blow, that's for sure. The Sooners will need a lot of help the rest of the way. However, all is not lost. Crazier things have happened (like a 2-loss national champion in 2007). But, perhaps instead of feeling distraught about a major chink in the national championship armor you should think about things like this: We may have Sam Bradford and Jermaine Gresham back for the conference schedule. At that point, anything is possible and we could beat any team on the schedule. Until then, we have two winnable games, at home, before the bye week. Landry Jones is a talented football player and I'm sure he'll do fine.

One thing is for sure, I doubt we could have more go wrong in a game than what happened on Saturday night. If Bob Stoops manages to turn the ship around without any more losses by the time Bradford and Gresham return, it might just be one of his finest coaching achievements.

Big 12 Roundtable - Week 1

ccmachine — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:19:12 -0000

The football season is back and so is the Roundtable. In case you’re new here or neglected the roundtables last season, it’s when the Big 12 bloggers get together and share their opinions on the same topics. Feel free to add your own opinions in the comments section.

1. Everyone knows the national talking points for each Big 12 team by
now (Oklahoma has new linemen! Bill Snyder's back at Kansas State!
Baylor might upset somebody!). Give us a storyline for your team that
isn't quite getting the attention it should.

As much as Oklahoma has been dissected this preseason I’m not sure that there isn’t a storyline out therethat hasn’t been uncovered yet. We’ll see what the offensive line does Saturday night but I’m of the opinion that they’ll be fine. I guess the one thing that I’m most curious to see is how good these receivers are. We saw the impact that Ryan Broyles had and word is that Adron Tennell had a great camp which was verified when he was named as a starter. Then you include the additions of Mossis Madu and Cameron Kenney and you find that this receiving corps is every bit as deep as last year’s. Now, if they could just have the same impact.

2. The Big 12 continues to be derided by other conferences as a
pass-happy, no defense, made-for-TV free-for-all. The question must be
asked, how accurate is this description, and is the perception
something of which the conference should be ashamed?

There certainly should be no shame in the Big 12’s brand of football. The Big 12 South is the best division of college football in America and the conference itself carries the best offenses in America. It’s a long way from the smash mouthed/ground and pound offenses of some of the other conferences and it’s a lot quicker than the vaunted west coast offenses as well. Because the pace is much quicker the scores are higher but not necessarily because defenses aren’t good but because there are more offensive possessions. In last year’s OU/Kansas State game there were a combined 36 offensive possessions. Oklahoma’s defense gave up 35 points but they held the Wildcats scoreless on 13 of their 18 offensive possessions. To help put that in perspective the Wildcats snapped the ball 85 times on offense.

When playing a high powered offense most defensive coordinators would take holding them from scoring on 72% of their drives. However, when you’re talking this many possessions that 28% adds up. Its not necessarily bad defense as much as it is good offense.

3. Over the summer, ESPN's Tim Griffin compiled a list of the Top 25
moments of the Big 12 era that stirred up a bit of internal debate. Which moments for your program were either overrated or underrated?

I don’t really place a lot of stock into these type lists because they’re geared at stirring the pot. That’s the main reason why we didn’t link to them here at Crimson and Cream Machine. That said, I felt as if OU was ranked adequately. Keeping in mind that these came from a conference perspective and not necessarily from one fan base I have no issues with it. For me personally the two greatest moments in Big 12 history were when Bob Stoops hoisted the BCS Championship Trophy in Miami following the 2000 season and when Roy Williams launched over the Texas offensive line in the Cotton Bowl.

4. We've seen no less than 30-40 "Best Big 12 Coaches" power rankings
in the offseason, but rarely is there the same press for the
coordinators. If you had to replace your offensive coordinator and
defensive coordinator with coordinators from within the conference,
who are you poaching and why?

Offensively I’d take Mike Gundy. Yes, I realize that he’s a head coach but he’s also the mastermind behind what has become a potent offensive attack at Oklahoma State. If they had the type of talent in Stillwater that they have in Norman or Austin then we’d be talking about Gundy’s offense as being one of the top attacks in the nation.

Defensively give me Carl Pelini from Nebraska. There seems to be a defensive revival going on in Lincoln and Pelini is making believers out of his players by squeezing every bit of talent out of them.

5. Time to start our weekly Big 12 Power Poll. Rank the Big 12 teams
from 1 to 12. (Note: This IS a power poll and isn't intended to
account for schedule)

1. OU

2. Texas

3. Kansas

4. OSU

5. Nebraska

6. Texas Tech

7. Missouri

8. Baylor

9. Colorado

10. Texas A&M

11. Kansas State

12. Iowa State

Depth Chart For BYU Game Released - A Few Surprises

ccmachine — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:58:22 -0000

As Oklahoma is in full game week preparations for BYU, Bob Stoops has released the depth chart for game one. The biggest thing that stands out is that the rumors of Brody Eldridge actually starting at center are true. This really shouldn't be alarming to Sooner fans because we knew that he was working out at the position now as it turns out he's edged Ben Habern, at this point, to anchor the line. Eldridge gives up nothing to Habern in height as he stands two inches taller than the 6-3 Habern.

Experience also shouldn't be an issue with Eldridge either. Yes, I realize that he's never started a game at center but as a senior at Oklahoma he's had plenty of game experience. He's often been lauded as the team's best blocker, he's got size (6-5, 265) long arms and the versatility that allowed him to play tight end and fullback.

Another thing that caught my eye on the offensive depth chart is in the receiver position. For all that we've heard on Cameron Kenney and Mossis Madu, its actually Brandon Caleb who is on the first team while Kenney and Madu are second team. However, do expect to see all these guys on the field Saturday night.

Defensively there was nothing that surprised me other than the fact that neither DeMarcus Granger nor Jamarkus McFarland made the two deep. Frank Alexander is listed as a backup tight end but then again with all the talent at that position someone had to rotate in behind the starters. There are at least three guys on the two-deep at defensive end that could compete for All-Conference honors but only two of them can start. That’s not really a bad problem to have.

Finally, my assumption that the coaches don’t want DeMarco Murray returning kickoffs was correct. They need him to stay healthy and there is enough speed and talent on this team where it isn’t necessary for him to be out there. Good call by the coaching staff.

Texas Tech Opponent Prospectus // Oklahoma Sooners

Seth C — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 13:26:44 -0000

2009 Texas Tech Opponent Prospectus

Game 1: North Dakota Fighting Sioux // Game 2: Rice Owls // Game 3: Texas Longhorns // Game 4: Houston Cougars // Game 5: New Mexico Lobos // Game 6: Kansas State Wildcats // Game 7: Nebraska Cornhuskers // Game 8: Texas A&M Aggies // Game 9: Kansas Jayhawks // Game 10: Oklahoma St. Cowboys // Game 11: Oklahoma Sooners

There's no doubt that the Oklahoma Sooners are in the hunt for the national championship. As it did last year, I have no doubt that much will be decided in Dallas against the Longhorns. The defense should be terrific, despite some recent injuries, but there are questions on the offense that will need to be answered.

Join me after the jump for a closer look at Oklahoma.

General Information

Opponent	University of Oklahoma
Nickname	Sooners
Location	Norman, OK
Enrollment	20,841 (Undergrad)
Conference	Big 12
Head Coach	Mike Stoops
2008 Record	12-2 (7-2)
Starters Returning/Lost	14/8
Blogs	Crimson and Cream Machine Tilting at Windmills
Links	2009 Depth Chart 2009 Spring Guide

Statistics


Statistic	Oklahoma	Texas Tech
Pass Offense	349.36 (3)	413.15 (1)
Rush Offense	198.50 (20)	117.84 (94)
Total Offense	547.86 (3)	531.00 (4)
Scoring Offense	51.14 (1)	43.77 (3)
Pass Efficiency	176.24 (1)	158.76 (9)
Sacks Allowed	0.93 (3)	1.00 (4)
Pass Defense	251.50 (99)	242.23 (94)
Rush Defense	116.21 (20)	140.38 (61)
Total Defense	367.71 (68)	382.62 (79)
Scoring Defense	24.50 (58)	27.85 (74)
Pass Efficiency Defense	118.09 (46)	130.56 (72)
Sacks	3.00 (4)	2.62 (18)
Tackles For Loss	7.57 (10)	4.85 (95)
Turnover Margin	1.64 (1)	0.62 (22)

Top Returners

Category	Player
Rushing	Chris Brown (217 / 1,220 yds / 20 TD)
Passing	Sam Bradford (328-483 / 4,720 yds / 50 TD / 8 Int)
Receiving	Jermaine Greshman (66 rec. / 950 yds / 14 TD)
Tackles	Travis Lewis (144)
Sacks	Jeremy Beal (8.5)
Interceptions	Travis Lewis (4)

A Few Things

The Heart of the Offense: Say what you will about departures, and I will later, but the heart of the Sooner offense in the incredibly gifted and accurate Sam Bradford. As I was plugging numbers into othe tables, I couldn't help be be awed by the 50 touchdowns and only 8 interceptions, and I'm not supposed to get awed by that sort of thing. To top it all off, the Sooners also had a top 20 rushing team. Yeah, they had it pretty good last year.
Let's Cut to the Chase: No need to avoid it, but the Sooners will be replacing four-fifths of their offensive line and two starting receivers. I know, the Sooners don't rebuild, but that's a hell of a lot of production up front replace. You'll note that the Sooners were third in the nation in allowing sacks and I've already mentioned the top 20 running game. There's no doubt that Bradford is an all-world performer, but I think it's going to be incredibly difficult for OU to duplicate last year's numbers. It's one thing to replace one or two and expect the same results, but that's not the case.
The Defense Looks Salty: The title says it all. Although the defense technically finished 68th in the country in total defense you've now got a team that returns all but the two starting safeties. Already pretty good at getting pressure on the quarterback and making plays, the entire front seven returns. Teams will have their hands full with a defensive line that was very good at getting pressure on the quarterback and very good stopping the run. Like the rest of the Big 12, the Sooners weren't so good against the pass, 99th in the nation. If you were going to exploit OU, it's got to be through the air, it's just that the quarterback cant hold onto the ball very long.
Safety Nets Return: Despite the losses on the offense, there are some serious safety nets that do return. First, Jermaine Greshman may be he best tight end in the nation and he caught a ton of passes last year. Running backs Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray return and having the runners who are capable of giving Bradford breathing room is a huge advantage. Not to mention, former running back turned receiver, Mossis Madu, Jr. returns and is at the very least a familiar face, along with Ryan Broyes, who caught 46 passes last year.

Poll

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most worried and 1 being the least worried, how worried are you about the Oklahoma Sooners?

1

30 votes

2

9 votes

3

10 votes

4

56 votes

5

246 votes

351 votes | Poll has closed

Countdown To Kickoff

ccmachine — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:59:40 -0000

Football Season Quickly Approaching

dishingoutdimes — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:19:36 -0000

More photos » AP

4 months ago: In this photo taken in Norman, Friday, Aug. 7, 2009, Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables is pictured during media day. Between 2000 and 2005, the Sooners were ranked among the top 13 defenses in the country every year. That slipped to 16th in 2006 and 26th in 2007 before last year's big drop-off to 68th. Now, players are talking about coming out with a new attitude, one that's mean, nasty and stingy. (AP Photo)

Browse more photos »

Practice continues in Norman for the fast approaching football season. There has been a fair amount of information about these practices and the team, so I'll try and condense that in a short briefing here for you.

Stoops' Surprising Players (link)

Bob Stoops had high praise for Chris Brown, Frank Alexander, Auston English, Quinton Carter and Tom Wort, saying that all of these players are unheralded but have a big impact, or the potential to make a big impact. Apparently, Quinton Carter would have started last season had he not pulled a hamstring. And of Tom Wort, Stoops said:

"Tom Wort is going to be pretty special, if not this year, then awfully soon," Stoops said.

Wide Receiver Question Mark

It's hard to say who will be starting at wide receiver for the Sooners when they open up against BYU. It's pretty safe to say that Ryan Broyles has one of the spots locked up. The Sooners employ three wide receiver sets a lot, which leaves two more spots open. Junior college transfer Cameron Kenney has started with the first unit in both of the open practices in 11-on-11 drills. Apparently he has made quite a few plays. I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a shot. The other front runners appear to be Adron Tennell and Mossis Madu, the latter of whom was converted from running back this summer.

The Center of the Problem

Center is obviously a position of concern with the top two people on the depth chart suffering injuries a couple of days into practice. The Sooners have been rotating a bunch of other people into the center position at practice in the meantime, in order to have "emergency plans". The list of emergency centers include Trent Williams, Stephen Good and even Brody Eldridge who has been commonly referred to as the "team's best blocker".

The good news is that it looks like the injured centers are on their way back. From the Oklahoman:

Habern, who has participated in some contact drills, has shown gradual improvement since sustaining the injury and doesn’t appear to be too far away from being cleared all the way for practice. When that happens, Patton said Eldridge will move back to tight end, where his blocking acumen is so valuable.

And from the Monday practice report from the Tulsa World:

Ben Habern, competing to replace Jon Cooper at center while battling a strained back, took part in a one-on-one blocking drill. He drove defensive tackle DeMarcus Granger several steps backward after one snap.

Defensive Depth Chart

Here is how the defensive depth chart is shaping up, according to Jake Trotter at the Oklahoman, who watched the open practices:

At the moment, the first-team defense looks like this:
DL: Jeremy Beal, Adrian Taylor, GK McCoy, Auston English
LB: Travis Lewis, Ryan Reynolds, Keenan Clayton
DB: Brian Jackson, Dom Franks, Sam Proctor, Quinton Carter

The second-team defense look like this
DL: RJ Washington, Casey Walker, Cordero Moore, Frank Alexander
LB: Daniel Franklin, Tom Wort, Austin Box
DB: Demontre Hurst, Marcus Trice, Emmanuel Jones, Lamar Harris

No real surprises on the first team. Daniel Franklin has edged out JR Bryant at linebacker, but no significant news on the second team either. The defense is projected to be improved from last year, and they have a ton of talent two-to-three deep on their depth chart.

Bradford Still Sharp

From all accounts, it seems like Sam Bradford has benefitted from another summer of conditioning, learning the system, and practicing. I haven't heard anything negative about Bradford, and most everything has been strongly positive.

BYU Injury Problems

The Sooners' first opponent - BYU Cougars - have had their share of injury problems. Starting QB, and one of the biggest stars on their football team, Max Hall dislocated his finger in a scrimmage on Monday. Max told reporters that his finger was fine, but it is still something to take note of.

Like the Sooners, BYU also only returns one starter on the offensive line. The only returning starter (LT Matt Reynolds) had to have surgery on his left hand and his status is questionable for the OU-BYU game. To top it off, BYU also lost the odds-on-favorite at their left guard spot for the season with a shoulder injury.

This means that BYU could be short handed on Max Hall's blindside for their season opener against OU.

2009 OU Football Preview: Receivers/Tight Ends

ccmachine — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:50:27 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

Mossis Madu is hoping to find more playing time as a slot receiver in `09. ,

Browse more photos »

Juaquin Iglesias, Quentin Chaney and Manny Johnson are all gone which leaves Adron Tennell as Oklahoma’s lone senior receiver and Ryan Broyles as OU’s leading receiver. Much like the offensive line the situation isn’t a dire as it may seem on the surface. Oklahoma is still very deep and talented at the receiver position they just lack experience. Broyles is a proven game breaker and Tennell had a terrific spring. Behind them are some young guys in Jameel Owens and Dejuan Miller who were both highly recruited and experienced some game action last season. Also, the x-factor in Oklahoma’s receivers in JUCO transfer Cameron Kenny who is supposed to bring the same game breaking ability that Broyles provides. He wasn’t on campus for the spring but we should get a feeling for him shortly after summer workouts begin. Also, the biggest move in the spring was Mossis Madu jumping from running back to receiver.

At the tight end spot there isn’t a team in the country that has an advantage over the Sooners. Jermaine Gresham is literally an unstoppable force because of his size and speed. He’s too quick for a linebacker to cover and too big for a defensive back to cover which creates a constant mismatch giving Sam Bradford a target that will almost always be open.

Receivers

#85 Ryan Broyles, So – Last season Broyles set the record for receiving yards by a Sooner freshman and tied in catches. In his first game, against Cincinnati, he recorded 7 catches for 141 yards. Broyles caught touchdown passes against Washington, Texas, Texas A&M and Texas Tech.

#8 Brandon Caleb, Jr – Caught 4 passes for 52 yards in `08.

#6 Cameron Kenny, Jr – Was ranked as the #3 JUCO receiver and #16 JUCO player in the country last year by Rivals.

#17 Mossis Madu, Jr – Madu moves to the slot position after spending the last two years as a reserve running back. In last season’s Big 12 Championship Game he ran for 114 yards and scored three touchdowns while filling in for DeMarco Murray. Madu caught 12 passes last season for 84 yards.

#24 Dejuan Miller, So – Played in six games in `08. Caught 2 passes for 14 yards.

#4 Jameel Owens, So – Owens saw action in 9 games as a true freshman last season. He caught 4 passes for 44 yards.

#80 Adron Tennell, Sr – Played in 12 games in `08 and recorded 9 receptions for 68 yards.

Tight End

#83 Brody Eldridge, Sr – Split time between fullback and tight end in `08. Caught 4 passes for 24 yards and 1 touchdown.

#18 Jermaine Gresham, Sr – Was an All Big 12 first team player by the coaches last season and second team All American by the AP. Ranked second on the team in receptions (66) and in receiving yards (950). His 950 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns were both the most ever in a season by a Sooner tight end.

#82 James Hannah, So – Was a reserve in `08 and only caught one pass.

#88 Eric Mensik, Jr – Played in 4 games in `08.

#47 Trent Ratterree, So – Recorded no stats in `08.

CSU Coach Steve Fairchild Calls CU "Silly" - Buff Bites

irish1611 — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:24:29 -0000

First things first, I am with Dan Hawkins on everything he said yesterday at the annual Colorado Coaches Lunch in Colorado Springs yesterday. When looking over all of these topics that were discussed, keep these two questions in the back of your head, "Does it really make sense for CU financially, for national exposure, for recruiting and their ability to be successful (wins/losses)" and since their are always two sides to every debate, "Who really wins in the discussed scenario: the Colorado Buffaloes or the Air Force Falcons/Colorado St. Rams?" The main thing is college sports is not a charity, it is a business and Dan Hawkins is in the business of getting wins. That's not superiority complex, that's not CU being scared of in-state teams, that is the landscape of college football right now, get wins, give yourself every advantage you can possibly give yourself to be successful.

Steve Fairchild of Colorado St. provided plenty of sound bites that should provide Dan Hawkins a little more motivation to prepare his team for week one.

Fairchild Makes Another Push for Invesco Field Game - Boulder Daily Camera

"Dan's got the microphone next, but I'm going to say it again: The game should be played in Denver for the next 100 years," Fairchild said.

Fairchild then goes onto say this according to the Pueblo Chieftain:

"CU moving the game to Boulder (this year) is just silly. And it would be silly for us to play the game in Fort Collins," Fairchild said. "When it's in Denver, it's more than a game, it's an event. Walking out on the field and seeing 35,000 CU fans and 35,000 CSU fans is pretty amazing. "It makes a lot more sense financially for both schools to play it in Denver. I can't believe this was even an issue, but hopefully it will be played in Denver for the next 100 years."

Then I think Steve Fairchild compares the Colorado St. vs. Colorado game to Oklahoma vs. Texas, arguably a top 10 rivalry in all of sports. I really can't tell what he is talking about here but he has the microphone and his forum, so why not, right?:

"Moving the game back to Boulder makes no sense. I don't care if it's Oklahoma-Texas, there's not a better rivalry in college football. It's more than just a game. It's an event."

No coach, it makes A LOT more sense for Colorado St. financially as noted in this article back in early June by Kyle Ringo:

He said the difference between playing in Denver and playing in Fort Collins at Hughes Stadium (capacity 34,400) is approximately $600,000 to $800,000 depending on the year. CU also makes significantly more with the game in Denver.

Yes, the University of Colorado receives a boost monetarily but not as much as Colorado St. does. If you agree to give the Buffs a greater split of the money to represent the same percentage increase you receive from doing the game, then we are answering that question above: "Who really wins in the discussed scenario: the Colorado Buffaloes or the Air Force Falcons/Colorado St. Rams?"

Fairchild also threw in this jab about how CU wouldn't schedule CSU when he was a player:

Fairchild played for the Rams from 1978-80, but he said he never got to experience the rivalry from a player's standpoint.

"They wouldn't play us back then, I don't believe," he said. "They wouldn't schedule us."

Back to the Camera article:

Hawkins' preference is to make it a road game for the Rams every other year. He did play along with the routine a little bit, however, and quipped that perhaps the Buffs would be willing to scrimmage Fairchild's team in Greeley before the season. "Anytime you can play at home it's great. It doesn't matter if it's basketball or football, playing on the road is tough," Hawkins said. "Although for us it's a quasi-neutral environment at Denver, it's not your home spot. So I think there's always a little bit of a comfort level playing at home, no question. From that standpoint, it should be fun."

I understand playing the game in Denver, I like to go to the game in Denver but again, Hawkins needs to win, the Colorado fans want to win, if this gets us a better shot at winning, that is all that matters because that is all that matters in Dan Hawkins world right now.

Trivial Matters Stand in Way of CU-AFA Game | The Colorado Spring Gazette
Here we go with the handouts again. The Colorado Springs Gazette really, I mean really wants the Air Force vs. Colorado game to happen. This is one of three articles that have been their paper the last couple of months:

Fans want the game. The athletic directors want the game. Air Force coach Troy Calhoun wants the game. Colorado coach Dan Hawkins doesn't want the game, but we'll just ignore him.

"Are we," Hawkins asked, "obligated to play the two in-state teams and not have flexibility in our nonconference schedule?"

"Everyone wants us to play Air Force now. Guys, how many blows to the head can I take?" said Hawkins, who was seated next to Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun at the luncheon.

You better talk to your A.D. coach Hawk because he wants the game. Hawkins made it clear yesterday that he is none to excited about the potential of playing two in-state teams a year and I couldn't agree more. Count me in as one of those fans who doesn't want to play two in-state teams. There are more reasons not to like this situation than preparing for the triple option or losing to two in-state teams which the author confidently brings up as a possibility. Part of playing outside of Colorado is exposure on a national level, something that games against Colorado State and Air Force don't do as much as playing West Virginia, Florida State, California, Georgia...all geared toward recruits seeing the Buffs play the big boys.

To the writer of the article and anybody who thinks Hawkins and Co. are shying away from competition, look into the future, look into that past three years and tell me if their is a Big 12 team who played a harder non-conference slate. This thought process isn't driven by playing weaker schedules.

The Buffs only have four games out of conference, fixing two of them allows little wiggle room for the Buffs to be creative with scheduling in the future plus their will always be the debate as to where the Buffs will play these games (Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder, Fort Collins). Drop Colorado State and then we can play Air Force. I am with Coach Hawkins on this one. I am an Air Force fan but in this situation, what do the Buffs gain by playing Colorado State and Air Force in the same season? Nothing compared to what Air Force and Colorado State gain. Remember my questions above.

Second point, can we get Mike Bohn and Dan Hawkins to present a united front? I think it is embarrassing that the athletic director is not in agreement with the head coach on where he wants his football team to play his games. It makes Dan Hawkins look like a bad guy when the athletic director takes the "politically correct" approach. Again, I am glad coach Hawk didn't cave to the pressure and logically spoke about these issues as what is good for his team.

Hawkins: Buffs Can Make Big 12 Title Run - Colorado Daily

Despite a 13-24 record through his first three seasons in Boulder, Hawkins didn't shy away when a reporter asked him Thursday if the Buffs were in position to make a run at the Big 12 title .

"Do we have the potential to do that? Yes, we do," Hawkins said after a long pause. "But you've got to get hot, you've got to get some confidence going, you've got to avoid injuries. And then you never know how those things will go. But I think we're definitely getting closer to knocking on the door."

more Colorado Football links after the jump...

Dan Hawkins Refuses to Answer Questions About Josh Smith

Is there any chance Smith could change his mind and return to CU? "I'm not going there," Hawkins said. So, you don't expect to have Smith on the roster? "I'm not going there," Hawkins said.

Big 12 RB Profiles - AthlonSports.com
We are here to provide Darrell Scott and Rodney Stewart more and more bulletin board material for this season. AthlonSports put out their Big 12 fantasy football ratings for runningbacks which has Rodney Stewart at #10 and Darrell Scott at #15. Ahead of both players included Roy Helu Jr (Nebraska Cornhuskers), Baron Batch (Texas Tech Red Raiders), Jake Sharp (Kansas Jayhawks), Jay Finley (Baylor Bears), true freaking freshman Christine Michael (Texas A&M Aggies). Ahead of Darrell Scott at 11 - 14: Cody Johnson (Texas Longhorns), Alexander Robinson (Iowa St. Cyclones), Keith (who?) Toston (Oklahoma St. Cowboys) and Mossis Madu (Oklahoma Sooners).

Here is what they said about Stewart and Scott:

10. Rodney Stewart, Colorado Buffaloes (SO) — Bye Week — 4 — No. 76 overall RB A freshman back was expected to steal the show in Boulder last year, but his last name was supposed to be Scott, not Stewart. As a five-foot-seven freshman, not much was expected of Stewart, but he ended up leading the team in rushing. He produced three 100-yard efforts, notching 107 against Florida State, 141 against Kansas State and 166 against West Virginia. The Buffaloes were hindered by offensive line struggles last year and with more stability up front, Stewart and Scott should have a better season. Stewart gets the nod as the starter, but don't be surprised if Scott eventually assumes the No. 1 role. If you draft one, be sure to grab the other as a handcuff.

15. Darrell Scott, Colorado Buffaloes (SO) — Bye Week — 4 — No. 87 overall RB Scott entered last year with high expectations, but was a disappointment. The California native was the No. 3 player in the 2008 Athlon Consensus 100, but battled through injuries and was unable to unseat Rodney Stewart as the team's No. 1 back. However, 2009 is a new season and hopes are high Scott will blossom in his second season on campus. There's plenty of potential with this sophomore, but Stewart is still in the mix. Expect Scott to be better in his second year and he's a solid sleeper pick for those looking for an intriguing RB4 or RB5 pick.

CU gashes Nebraska for 380 rushing yards in No. 12 memory - Big 12 - ESPN
Ah yes, the 62 - 36 game finally makes it on Tim Griffin's list of top moments in the Big 12 history.

CU gashes Nebraska for 380 rushing yards in No. 12 memory

The Pueblo Chieftain :: CU coach tells youth to set a goal, reach it

Dan Hawkins, the often jovial and boisterous head football coach at the University of Colorado, spoke to some 100 kids and staff Thursday at the Boys and Girls Ranch in El Pueblo.